As if man-animal conflict, poaching and loss of habitat were not enough that accidents on highways have added to the woes of India's leopard population. A research on leopards conducted by wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi, Poornesh HC, Annapoorna Daitota and Harish Nagashettihalli indicate that overlapping of roads in critical habitats is threatening leopards, which are a critical link in the eco-system.
The study reveals that in the past 60 months 23 leopards have been killed in road mishaps in Karnataka alone. "When roads overlap with important wildlife habitats, considerable scrutiny and critical conservation planning is required" the study points out. It says between the span of 2009 to 2014, 41 leopards were killed in accidents in the State.
leopards are one of the widely distributed wild cats in the world with nine subspecies found in varied habitats across its entire range. loss of habitat, poaching and retaliatory killing are recognised as the key threats to leopards in its entire range. The species is currently categorised as 'Near Threatened' on the IUCN Red list with some subspecies identified as critically endangered.
In India, the challenge comes primarily from the conversion of existing small roads with low-volume traffic into high-speed highways, while a few new roads are also opening up in remote locations. "Our new highways which pass through critical habitats are posing as a life threat for leopards," the study adds.
Sanjay Gubbi said, "We need a wildlife-friendly infrastructure in identified locations even outside protected areas. This will include mitigation measures such as wildlife crossing structures, rumble strips to reduce speed and night closure of highways within protected areas. However, location and design of mitigation measures should be based on sound wildlife ecology and trained wildlife biologists need to be involved in the planning process".
"Different mitigation measures need to be planned and designed for different species. The kind of mitigation measures designed for large carnivores may not be suitable for smaller animals. But to remind these mitigation measures are not very expensive. Hence, we need to shun them based on cost factor. Driver awareness could also help reduce mortalities to an extent", Sanjay said.