Athreya, V.R.; Thakur, S.S.; Chaudhuri, S.; and Belsare A.V. 2004. A study of the man-leopard conflict in the Junnar Forest Division, Pune District, Maharashtra. Submitted to the Office of the Chief Wildlife Warden, Nagpur. Maharashtra Forest Department

Abstract
The western Indian state of Maharashtra, which reported a population of 513 leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) in 2001, has in recent times seen an escalation in man – leopard conflicts in various parts of the state. The highest intensity of conflict has been reported from the Junnar, Ambegaon and Khed talukas of the Junnar Forest Division (JFD), situated in the northwest corner of the Pune district. The conflict in the JFD was restricted to about 1590 km2 of a total of 4360 km2 that comprises the affected talukas of the JFD. Fifty-one people were attacked between 2001 and 2003 in the JFD of which 18 people died and 33 were injured. In the same period, 103 successful trapping instances of leopards were carried out by the Maharashtra Forest Department. The available data (since 1993) show differences in the patterns of depredation by leopards in the northern and southern parts of the JFD. Livestock depredation in the southern regions peaked during 1996-97 followed by a decline till 2001 after which it increased. In contrast the frequency of depredation in the northern regions slowly rose from 1995-96 until 2000 after which point it sharply escalated to with a 100 % increase in 2001. The two regions of JFD also differ in topological and socio-economic factors. The south is hillier, contains more reserve forests, grows different crops, does not have as much of an area under sugarcane cultivation and grazing of livestock is as prevalent as stall-feeding. The Narayangaon range in the northern region, which was also a hotspot of conflict (livestock and human depredations) in late 2001 and 2002, supports the largest extent of sugarcane in the JFD. Satellite imagery analyses indicate a two-fold increase in the cultivation of tall crops, including sugarcane, between 1973 and 1992 in the northern areas but no substantial increase between the years 1992 and 2000. We estimated the JFD leopard population to consist of 62 animals based on the number of leopards that were taken out of JFD (far–off translocations, death, captivity) with an area of about 25 km2 to each individual (given that the conflict was contained in 1590 km2 of the JFD). It is likely that some of the 103 captures were re-captures since releases of the initially captured animals were carried out at the administrative boundary of the JFD. Rapid vehicle transects carried out across 600 km of the JFD indicated that domestic animals were most numerous. However, our studies showed that domestic animals tended by people provided only about 1/7th of the leopard population’s food requirement in the JFD in 2000-2001. We could not estimate the density of stray domestic animals (dogs and livestock) in this short study but it is likely to have formed an important part of leopard diet in the JFD. The leopards trapped following an incident (either fortuitously in a shed or deliberately in a baited trap) are most often released away from the sites of capture (most likely to be their territories). This is the most common way of dealing with problem leopards and is mandated by the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002, for Schedule I species (the leopard was included in 1983) and is the preferred alternative to lethal control. However, studies on translocated leopards and other similar-sized felids from Africa, the Americas and Europe carried out in the 1980’s have shown that this method does not reduce man-leopard conflict; in fact, it is likely to transfer the conflict to areas of translocation. The reason why conflict may not decrease with removal of an odd individual from an area is likely to be due to a fact of felid biology where younger animals in search of territories almost immediately colonise vacant territories. Nearby translocations (less than 60 km from site of capture) of large numbers of leopards (10 – 25) were carried out in 2001 within the JFD. The level of conflict (livestock and human depredations) in the JFD increased significantly following this local displacement of large numbers of leopards decreasing to historic levels only after an almost complete removal of leopards from the area (far-off translocation, death, captivity) in 2003. A similar pattern was seen in the 95% probability area of conflict which increased by a factor of seven in 2001 compared to historical levels reducing back to pre-existing levels in 2003. We modelled least-cost movement pathways based on vegetation density, starting at the crestline of the W. Ghats and terminating at the capture sites in the JFD. The lowest cost of movement was seen to be along the river valleys with 90% of the actual conflict points (livestock and human depredations, leopard trappings) lying less than 1 km from the modeled pathways. Furthermore, high costs (low vegetation density or open water) impede movement from start points located in the northern areas of JFD to capture sites in the southern ranges of the JFD and vice versa indicating that animals trapped in the southern regions and released in the northern areas of the JFD may not always be able to come back to their territories due to landscape features.