With 460 leopard deaths, India in 2018 recorded the highest mortality rate of the particular big cat species across the country in the past four years, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) said on Monday.
According to official records, a total of 431 leopards died in 2017. These included 159 incidents of poaching. Some 450 big cats died in 2016 and 127 of them were found poached. In 2015 (399) and in 2014 (331) died.
"The highest leopard mortality rate was recorded in Uttarakhand with 93 deaths. This is followed by Maharashtra (90), Rajasthan (46), MP (37), UP(27), Karnataka (24), and Himachal Pradesh (23) among others," WPSI programme coordinator Tito Joseph told IANS.
"Poaching, road accidents, and human-animal conflict are the main reasons. In 2018 only, 29 leopards were killed by villagers and eight leopards considered to be maneaters were killed by the forest department workers," he said.
Mortality is a category when a leopard or tiger is found dead due to unknown causes, shot by forest department or police, killed by villagers, killed in road or train accident, killed in rescue operation or during treatment, infighting, accidental electrocution.