PUNE: A team of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India has found that the leopards in the Junnar forest division are operating in smaller territories compared to the average area of the animal in the wild.
In Junnar, the territory holding of a leopard is a maximum of up to 30sqkm, whereas, in forests, it is up to 50 to 70sqkm.
The animals are getting their prey, water and cover even in smaller territories due to the dense sugarcane fields and human habitat. As a result, the wild cats are comfortable even in small areas, the experts said.
"The dynamics for leopards in Junnar forest are peculiar than any other forest division in the country," Bilal Habib, a scientist from the department of animal ecology and conservation biology of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) who is heading the project in Junnar, said.
The team is here to understand population dynamics, space use, movement and diet of leopards in the human-dominating landscape of Junnar for human-leopard conflict mitigation. The work is divided into two parts -camera trapping and radio-collaring of leopards.
"In our camera trapping exercise, we have found that one leopard near Jambut village in Shirur has been staying in the same area for the last four years. The trap cameras at various places in and around the nearby villages have caught its movements. It shows that the animal has earmarked his area, known as territory holding. However, the total radius of the operating area is about 27sqkm, which is less compared to the average area," Kumar Ankit, senior research fellow of the WII who has been monitoring the cameras on the ground in the division, said.
"In wildlife sanctuary, for instance, Tadoba, the leopards have their areas within the core range or zone of the tiger - the main predator. However, in Junnar's case, the main predator is the leopard. There could be instances of fighting between two leopards over an area. However, such instances are minor in the Junnar division due to the ample availability of sugarcane fields," Habib added.
The wildlife experts said the leopards have learnt how to live in the vicinity of human habitation over a period.