Leopard found dead in Banswara

UDAIPUR: A six-year-old male leopard found dead in Bhagtol under Ghatol forest area in Banswara district Monday morning. Villagers who spotted the beast informed the forest authorities who took the carcass in their custody and cremated the big cat after conducting postmortem late afternoon.
“Leopards are found in abundance in forest region and animal conflicts are frequent in this area. On Sunday night too, two adult male leopards fought each other and one of them was killed,” forest officer Govind Singh Rajawat said.
Leopards are considered one of the most secretive, solitary and partially arboreal animal and as the leopard population is decreasing, it has been placed under Schedule-1 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.However, they are found in large numbers in south Rajasthan.
As per wildlife census-2015, total 434 leopards were reported in the state with the highest number of 88 leopards were reported from Kumbalgarh wild life sanctuary and 33 in Todgarh sanctuary. But, the degradation of habitat and lack of prey in sanctuaries have resulted in increased depredation of livestock in adjoining villages which in turn, causes leopard conflicts. Loss of habitat reduces the ability of leopards to find prey, mates and suitable resting place and denning sites. Further it leads to two greatest causes of panther death — mutual aggression between bug cats and collisions with vehicles.