Odisha’s Leopard Population Is Dwindling, Here’s Why

Odisha is turning out to be a hotbed for the poaching of leopards. The Odisha Forest Department and the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police seized 20 leopard skins in one year from 10 districts.

In the latest case on April 2, two persons, identified as Sudhira Behera and Subash Chandra Behera from Nayagarh district, were caught red-handed when they were about to sell leopard skin. This takes the total number of leopard skins seized by the Odisha Forest Department and the STF between May 20, 2020, and April 2, 2021, to 12.

Among the 10 districts, the highest number of leopard skins were seized from Nayagarh district (4), followed by Nabarangapur (3), Mayurbhanj (3), Khurda (2), Dhenkanal (2) and one each from Ganjam, Kandhamal, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh and Nuapada, the journal Down To Earth (DTE) quoted sources as saying.

The duo caught on April 2, was charged with sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the animal hide will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for chemical examination, STF sources were quoted as saying in the report.

Biswajit Mohanty, environmentalist, and secretary of Wildlife Society of Odisha, a non-profit organisation told DTE that the crimes also exposed the diminishing protection network.

It is believed that the number of poaching cases might be higher as several smugglers managed to move the animal skins to the neighbouring states or other countries.

Leopards are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Over 150 leopards have been poached across Odisha in the last decade. The population of leopards in the state was 760, according to the Status of Leopards in India, 2018 report by the central government.

How and why leopards are a target?

Most leopards are caught and killed by poachers when they venture into human habitats close to forests for prey. They are primarily hunted for their skins, bones and other parts for use in traditional medicine in the international market, Mohanty told DTE.

The animals enter human settlements also because of the erosion of their habitats, said Sudhakar Mohapatra, a retired senior forest officer was quoted as saying.