India's Pioneering Leopard Management Experiment
In a groundbreaking initiative for Indian wildlife conservation, the Junnar forest division in western Maharashtra's sugar cane belt is preparing to launch the country's first-ever trial to sterilise free-ranging leopards. This innovative approach aims to curb population growth by preventing reproduction at its source, marking a significant departure from traditional methods of capturing or relocating the big cats.
Addressing Rising Human-Leopard Conflicts
The decision comes after years of escalating leopard activity in farming villages, increasing livestock losses, and a worrying spike in deadly human-leopard encounters. While Junnar has served as an important study site for human-leopard coexistence, recent fatal attacks have severely strained this fragile balance, prompting forest authorities to seek more permanent solutions.
Bilal Habib, a senior scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India who has worked extensively in the Junnar division, explained the rationale behind the experiment. "If we control birth for two years, the number of cubs would come under control. But we have to see how it works since it is a maiden attempt in India. Therefore, the experiment will be done on five females initially," he told TOI.
The Sterilisation Protocol and Implementation
The programme's guidelines are currently being drafted by the principal chief conservator of forests office in Nagpur. Once the standard operating procedures receive approval, field operations will commence immediately. Smita Rajhans, assistant conservator of forests for the Junnar division, confirmed that "we plan to capture female leopards from the conflict-prone areas."
The pilot project will follow a carefully designed process:
- Adult female leopards from high-conflict clusters will be tranquilised
- Each animal will receive a comprehensive medical check-up
- Sterilisation will be performed using contraceptive methods
- After recovery, leopards will be tagged or fitted with radio collars
- All sterilised animals will be released back into their original territories
Officials have described the scheme as "preventive" rather than reactive. For the past two decades, the standard response to human-leopard conflict has involved rescue operations, cage captures, or translocation—methods that merely transfer the problem to different villages without addressing the root cause of population growth.
Learning from African Wildlife Management
The significance of Junnar's experiment extends beyond Maharashtra's fields to conservation efforts on other continents, particularly Africa, where wildlife fertility control has been tested on elephants, lions, baboons, and other species for nearly thirty years.
Sunil Limaye, former principal chief conservator of forests for wildlife in Maharashtra, revealed that the first female leopards could be sterilised using immuno-contraceptive injections that prevent ovulation. "Trials on lions and cheetahs in Africa have shown promise, but India is testing it for the first time on leopards," Limaye noted.
Across South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, and Namibia, wildlife managers have employed sterilisation and immuno-contraception since the 1990s, primarily to control overpopulation in fenced reserves where natural migration is restricted. Elephants were the first large mammals to receive large-scale contraception in these programs.
Challenges and Long-Term Vision
Experts caution that sterilisation doesn't provide immediate solutions. A wildlife biologist explained that "if Junnar sterilises five female leopards, conflict may remain unchanged for years because the existing adult population still hunts, breeds and interacts. Visible change emerges only when two-thirds or more breeding females are non-reproductive."
The logistical challenges in Junnar are substantially greater than in African reserves. Unlike elephants that remain in herds, leopards are solitary animals that vanish into thick sugar cane plantations within minutes, making long-term tracking and administering booster doses considerably more difficult.
Ashish Thakare, the chief conservator of forest for the Pune forest circle, emphasized the program's potential significance: "If successful, the programme in Junnar could become the country's template for carnivore conflict mitigation, an alternative to translocation, one-way cages and unending rescue cycles."
The experiment represents a paradigm shift in India's approach to wildlife management, focusing on population stabilization while allowing leopards to remain in their natural habitats, potentially creating a more sustainable model for human-wildlife coexistence in increasingly crowded landscapes.
