Leopards in Odisha forests are reportedly in danger if the data released in the latest report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is anything to go by.
This report has raised concerns of the Forest Department and wildlife activists while a number of seizures of leopard hides have been made in various parts of the state recently.
In the last four years, 192 leopards have vanished from Odisha, according to the NTCA report on Status of Leopards in India-2022.
The NTCA report says, as many as 760 leopards used to reside in the forests of Odisha in 2018 while the number has come down to 568 in 2022.
As per the leopard census conducted in 2018, there were 12,852 leopards in forests of the country and their number has increased to 13,874 in 2022.
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The NTCA has expressed concerns over the decline of the leopard population in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Telangana as far as the landscape of Central India and Eastern Ghats is concerned.
The countrywide leopard estimate covered 20 states in India through a foot survey spanning 6,41,449 km to estimate carnivore signs and prey abundance.