Cat Trail

The year-long ‘Mumbaikars for SGNP’ project,a collaborative effort between the Forest department and the Centre for Widlife Studies(CWS),Bangalore,has started yielding results. The team laid laid camera traps in 22 locations within the park and nine locations such as Aarey Colony outside,and recorded around 19 instances of leopards on camera and captured about 100 images of the elegant feline between November 6,2011 and February 23,2012. Using this footage,the team will now identify individual leopards and arrive at a reliable count of the leopards in and around the park.

The project was initiated in September 2011 to study the biology and behaviour of the leopard — the only big cat found in these parts — and help mitigate the human-animal conflict it causes. This is for the first time in the park’s history that camera traps and scientific methods have been used to come up with the number of leopards instead of the traditional pug mark tracking technique. “Pug mark tracking,which involves identifying an animal by its foot print,is not reliable as it sometimes becomes difficult to distinguish between two sets of pug marks of the same species,” said Vidya Athreya,wildlife biologist with CWS and principal investigator of the project. “Every leopard has a rosette pattern,the spots on its body,which is unique. We will study the patterns in each picture,which will give us a reliable population estimate for leopards in and around the park,” she added. Preliminary figures suggest that there are about 15 leopards,with work in the northern areas of the park still going on.

However,the main aim of the project,which ends in August,is to use this and other information about the big cats to dispel fear among the people and involve them in leopard conservation. “The study revealed a floating population of leopards around the park’s edges and even outside it,like in Aarey Colony. They live around humans for the most part but there have been no major incidents or attacks on humans since 2006-2007,” said Athreya.

The research confirmed that the park has a large stray dog population,which explains why leopards are found around human settlements. “Leopards chase dogs as they are easy prey and stray dogs are attracted to garbage,which is found near human settlements,” said Sunil Limaye,director of the park. This knowledge can help mitigate human-animal conflict by reassuring people that leopards will not harm them if people keep their areas clear of garbage,thereby keeping strays at bay.

The team will soon start interviewing stakeholders such as residents,visitors/tourists,park staff,local politicians,police and fire department to assess potential threats and engage them in conservation through awareness.