According to a new study published in the journal PeerJ, scientists have found four distinct sub-populations of leopards in India with high genetic variations.
These four sub-populations are:
- Leopards of the Western Ghats,
- Leopards of the Deccan Plateau semi-arid region,
- Leopards of the Shivalik mountains, and
- Leopards of the Terai region in North India.
Facts
- These four genetic groups correspond to biogeographic zones of India.
- The authors of the study are from Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Bengaluru-based Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) .
- The study has also revealed a possibly human-induced population decline of 75% to 90% among leopards in India in the past 120 to 200 years.
- The authors have recommended that similar conservation attention be given to leopards as is given to tigers to contain a decline in distribution and numbers.
Causes of decline of leopard population
As per the study, reasons behind the steep decline in the leopard populations are:
- Lot of trophy hunting of all large wildlife in 1850s to 1950s
- Large-scale decline in habitats, particularly grasslands and scrubland
- Deterioration in the quality of forests leading to prey loss
