Leopard census starts in Una.

• The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has begun a census of leopards in Una district under the project, ‘Population estimation of common leopard and black bear in Himachal Pradesh’.
• The project funded by the state government has first been launched in Una during the winter, as it is the warmest district of the state. The project will later be implemented in higher altitude areas after the winter.
• The census work, which has two years mandate, is being undertaken under the overall guidance of Dr Lalit Sharma, a scientist at the ZSI headquarters in Kolkata.

About techniques used to count wild animals

• Prior to 2006, pugmarks of animals were observed on soft forest surfaces. With new technological interventions, DNA samples from animal scat and photos captured by motion camera traps installed in forest areas are used to count animals.
• The ZSI scientist says besides population estimation, the project will also include identification of hotspots for animal-human conflicts and plans for their mitigation. He adds the instances of human conflict with black bears and common leopard prompted the Wildlife Department to undertake the project.
• Dar says the state’s forest cover is divided into grids of five by five kilometres. Each grid where the exercise is to be undertaken is studied on the basis of satellite images. Walking trails are documented and four teams comprising two members each, zero in on a designated location from four different directions, identifying potential routes that animals may take and spots for fixing motion cameras.
• He says that teams also collect leopard and bear scat, which not only consists of digested remains of the prey, but also a thin layer of the killer animal’s intestinal lining covering the scat. The DNA of leopards and bears is taken from these intestinal lining cells and sent to the ZSI laboratories for further analysis.

Reasons for increasing conflicts between humans and wild animals:

• The fragmentation of forestland is the main reason for increasing conflicts between humans and wild animals. The animals encounter humans while moving from one forest patch to another.
• The ZSI scientist says the density of prey species like pheasants, mountain goat, wild boar and barking deer is on the decline due to hunting, forcing wild animals to go near human settlements in search of dogs and other domestic animals.
• There is a dire need for a separate wildlife wing in Himachal Pradesh since forest divisions are only performing territorial activities related to conservation and processing of forest wood, pushing the issue of wildlife on to a lesser priority.

Higher Areas to be Covered Later

• The project funded by the state government has first been launched in Una during winter, as it is the warmest district of the state. Post-winter, it will later be implemented in higher-altitude areas too