Guwahati: A first-of-it’s-kind exclusive leopard counting census in Assam in forest and non-forest areas has been initiated by North Kamrup Forest Division in leopard density areas of Amingaon that will kick off from January 31.
The counting will be through a camera-trapping method with 50 cameras installed in Sila Reserve Forest, Changsari, and the areas surrounding Amingaon.
The camera trapping shall start from February 7, after the layout of the detailed plan.
Till now, Assam does not know the population of leopards. Hopefully, this census will give an estimate.
A study on Identification of Human-Leopard Conflicts, Conservation Threats and Habitat Suitability in the Urban Landscapes of Guwahati City, Assam, India using Field-based and Geospatial Techniques says the rise of the human population and expansion of settlements if the leopard habitats are one of the major causes of growing human leopard conflict.
“To reduce the present conflict level in both the respondents, it is required to conduct a thorough survey on the population structure and size of leopard and to install alarming devices on the periphery of the designated site to monitor their movement. Regions identified as highly-suitable leopard habitat should be prioritised for leopard conservation zones,” it says.
The study recommends that since the city has become a major business hub and the concentration of anthropogenic activities is at a high in recent times, all development planning should also keep in mind the urban wildlife, especially the leopards. “Since leopards are a territorial species their territory needs to be preserved for lesser man-leopard conflict,” it further recommends.
Incidents of leopards straying into the city limits of Guwahati have become common in recent years. The conflict has taken a serious turn with injuries reported from both sides. Shrinking of leopard habitats due to encroachment has led to conflict.
The Man-leopard conflict has become a serious issue, with reports of casualties now and then. In tea garden areas of Assam, many leopards had to be caged.
The census at present seems to be confined to North Kamrup and Guwahati.
According to Divisional Forest Officer Sunnydeo Choudhary, the camera trapping will be done for 24 weeks, and data from each camera will be extracted at an interval of every seven days.
A one-week execution program has been planned by North Kamrup Forest Division for conducting the census that will involve verifying camera traps, the study of maps, in-depth discussion with senior forest officials, volunteer participation plan, field survey and target location selection.
During the week-long program, the division officials shall discuss various aspects of the camera trapping mission with various stakeholders, including district administration, police, village and education institutions heads and media in a detailed manner.
“If we succeed then it will be extendable to other parts of Guwahati and then we will come to know its habitat, its home range and can plan better to avoid man-animal conflict,” Choudhary told EastMojo.
“We can tell the government convincingly the habitat of leopards, and hence those areas outside forest land can be protected for them and also when any infrastructure projects come in that area then we can plan accordingly,” he said.
According to the Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores in India report of 2018, there are only 145 leopards in the Northeast. “Due to inadequacy of sampling, landscape-scale analysis was not feasible. Literature on the estimation of leopard population is very scarce in this landscape,” the report says.
On Assam, the report said with growing urban built-up progressively shrinking the suitable habitats for leopards, frequent interfaces and conflicts between man and leopard even within the urban landscapes are one of the conservation challenges for the managers in the state.