A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) study has found a declining trend in leopard and prey populations across key forest landscapes in Odisha, even as India's overall large-carnivore numbers have risen. The study, sponsored by the Odisha Forest Department, underscores a troubling regional divergence — the east-central zone is not keeping pace with national conservation gains.

Key Findings from the WII Study

Researchers assessed leopard and prey populations at multiple sites within the Similipal-Satkosia landscape, a fragmented forest complex spanning both protected and non-protected areas. Systematic camera-trap surveys were conducted across Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Hadagarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rebana Reserve Forest, and the Satkosia and Mahanadi wildlife divisions of Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR).

Leopards were identified using their unique rosette markings. Density estimates relied on maximum-likelihood spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models, while prey relative abundance indices (RAI) were calculated from detections per 100 trap-nights. Leopard diet in STR was further analysed through trichotaxonomic examination of medullary guard hairs from field-collected scat samples.

Where Leopards Survive — and Where They Have Vanished

The highest leopard densities were recorded in Satkosia and Mahanadi, at 17.9 ± 1.75 and 11.9 ± 1.66 leopards per 100 km², respectively — figures that corresponded with higher availability of medium- and large-sized prey, which formed a major part of the leopard diet.

In stark contrast, the study found that leopards were functionally extinct in Kuldiha and Hadagarh, with medium- to large-sized ungulates either absent or recorded at very low densities in those areas. In Rebana, leopard density remained critically low at 2.2 ± 0.70 leopards per 100 km². Small-bodied prey were the most common across all study sites, indicating a broader collapse of the natural prey base.

Threats Driving the Decline

The report identified habitat destruction, poaching, and human-wildlife conflict as the primary threats facing leopards in the region. Notably, the depletion of prey populations also indirectly drives conflict — while leopards are generally shy and prefer to avoid humans, hunger increasingly drives them towards villages in search of food. This is a pattern seen across other prey-depleted forest landscapes in central India.

The study stressed that healthy prey populations are crucial for sustaining large carnivores, and called on state governments to intervene periodically to restore prey populations in vulnerable areas.

What Conservationists Are Recommending

'Based on the preliminary data, our findings highlight the need for a comprehensive, landscape-scale leopard conservation strategy,' the report stated. It called for protecting prey species, promoting population growth through supplementation efforts, reducing human-related threats, improving monitoring in unprotected areas, and establishing ecological corridors to maintain leopard populations and expand their range across the landscape.

This comes amid growing concerns among wildlife ecologists that fragmented forest patches — common across Odisha's forest belt — are unable to sustain viable large-carnivore populations without active intervention. The findings are expected to inform the Odisha Forest Department's long-term wildlife management plans.