Centre clears leopard sterilisation plan using dart-administered immuno-contraceptive method: Officials

With leopard numbers rapidly growing in Junnar forest area in Pune and other forest jurisdictions in the region, leading to increased man-leopard conflicts, the State Forest Department had sent a proposal to the union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in July last year to sterilise a specific number of leopards as a targeted birth control method to reduce the rate of increase in leopard populations. For the Junnar forest division, the proposal was to sterilise 125 female leopards, which has received a nod.

On Monday when Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik convened an urgent meeting at Van Bhavan, Pune to review measures to address human–leopard conflicts, Conservator of Forest for Pune Ashish Thakare informed him that the union government’s approval was received to use an immuno-contraceptive method to regulate population growth.

Last year, eight human deaths were reported and this year five due to human-leopard conflicts. After the back to back incidents last year, the forest department had issued a red alert for 13 villages in a five square km area in Junnar taluka. People in these villages were told not to step out before 9 am and after 5 pm. In June this year, Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi notified over 230 villages from four talukas of Pune district — Junnar, Ambegaon, Shirur and Khed — as being prone to disaster due to repeat human-leopard conflicts in which multiple deaths and several serious injuries were reported.

The forest department has marked six hotspots in Junnar forest division for human-leopard conflicts. One of the key drivers of the rise in leopard populations is the huge growth of sugarcane plantations in the area. “The effort will use the immuno-contraceptive method and will be administered by darts. The vaccine will trigger the immune system to prevent reproduction, without the need for surgical intervention.

The method however requires a booster dose to be administered for it to be effective. The strategy for these steps is being chalked out. 125 female leopards will undergo the process,” a senior officer told The Indian Express.

The proposal sent by the office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) to the MoEFCC stated that a study was conducted by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the Maharashtra Forest Department under a project titled ‘Understanding Population Dynamics, Space Use, Movement and Diet of Leopards in Junnar for Human Leopard Conflict mitigation’. The report identified hotspots where human-leopard conflicts are prominently high. It stated that irrigation projects in the last couple of decades have led to the expansion of sugarcane cropping areas in the landscape. “Sugarcane crops account for a safe habitat to hide and breed, and frequent livestock activity in the surroundings provides a good opportunity to depredate livestock for the leopards. The availability of sugarcane and domestic prey is helping the leopard population to thrive in this landscape,” the report stated.

The report stated that a targeted birth control measure will immensely help lower the rate of increase of leopard populations. The entire operation shall be carried out under the supervision of experts, with guidance from the Wildlife Institute of India, officials said.