NEW DELHI: Leopards could soon find a good home in the city forests with wildlife biologists exploring the possibility of a breeding programme for the big cat and creating a solid prey base for them.
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Delhi government’s forest and wildlife department are engaged in a habitat analysis of Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. The project aims at understanding the living patterns of the animals in the sanctuary, their habitat preference and the analysis of leopard movement and prey base. While the biologists believe there are at least five leopards in Asola, including one female and one juvenile, they are speculating if the felines have made the sanctuary their permanent home or would do so soon. The question then is whether Asola is ready to be home to them.
To understand this, the experts have installed camera traps to capture data on species density and hunting patterns of the leopards. “The sanctuary has been divided into three sections, each with 14 one-square-kilometre grids. Each grid has a camera trap. The purpose is to map the habitat preference of the leopards and the other animals. We have seen leopard claw marks on trees, a clear sign of territorial marking,” said BNHS’ Sohail Madan.
Wildlife biologist Sumit Dookia also said, “We are collecting leopard scat and observing pugmarks. We have reason to believe there are two or three resident leopards. However, we can be certain of this only when we get the analysis done. There is a good possibility of leopards breeding in Asola because we have recorded the presence of males and a female.”
Dookia said that as far as the prey base was concerned, Asola could support seven to eight leopards. Being part of a continuous forest range in the Aravalis, Asola offers a good abode for leopards. He added, “There is a possibility in the future of Asola’s connectivity with Sariska through animal corridors that are currently broken. Leopards for now move freely in the contiguous range of Asola, Mangar, Pali village, Bhondsi forest and Damdama.”
Forest officials said though the spotted cats are residents of an extended forest patch, there has been no study on them. “There is no documentation of leopard behaviour in this region,” said one official. “The sightings on the camera trap are quite good and the scat and genetic analysis will aid us in conserving the forest for the big cats. We have also sent a proposal on this to the Wildlife Institute of India.”
Experts believe that the research being undertaken will help them with the ecological regeneration of the protected area. “Habitat augmentation and assistive regeneration will help the species base in the sanctuary,” explained Madan. “That is why this study is essential. It’s very important to get data to understand the critical habitats in the sanctuary in order to be able to protect them.”
One other question remains unanswered yet. Even if the city gets its felines back, will the residents be sensitive enough to co-exist with them?
