CB BureauAt least four leopards have been poached in India every week for the last decade. So says the report titled ‘Illuminating the Blind Spots: A Study on Illegal Trade in Leopard Parts in India (2001-2010)’, released by Traffic India, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
The study documents a total of 420 seizures of leopard skins, bones and other body parts reported from 209 localities in 21 out of 35 territories in India during 2001″10. Statistical analysis is used to estimate the additional levels of ‘undetected trade’ and concludes that around 2,294 leopards were trafficked in India during the period”an average of four animals per week over the 10-year period.
Delhi was found to be the hub of leopard-related illegal activities with over 26 per cent of reported seizures. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana came next. ‘Most leopard parts are smuggled out of India to other Asian countries, often through the porous border of neighbouring Nepal. The body parts are sold in Myanmar, Laos and parts of China,’ says the report.
Close to 90 per cent of reported leopard part seizures in India comprised solely of skins, making them the dominant body part found in illegal trade during the 10-year period. Other body parts, particularly bones, are known to be prescribed as substitutes for tiger parts in traditional Asian medicine.
The leopard is listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. The Act provides for maximum protection to Schedule 1 species because of their highly endangered status. The leopard is also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora that prohibits its commercial international trade.
Urging local agencies to step up conservation efforts, the report suggests setting up of a centralized database on wildlife crimes”on the lines of the database maintained by the National Tiger Conservation Authority for tigers. ‘A task force needs to be created for states with high rates of illegal trade in leopards,’ suggest the experts, pointing out that such a body could bring offenders to book and study the patterns of such crimes.
While tigers have been the focus of major conservation campaigns, leopards have been associated more with their constant conflict with humans. As Dr Divyabhanusinh Chavda, President of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India, informs, ‘Its natural habitat is always under pressure; it’s reduced, degraded, and thus they move out of their natural habitat. Therefore they come into more conflict with humans than a tiger or lion would. If it’s being driven out of its home, there is bound to be conflict. It’s about time we woke up and did something about protecting this animal.’
Dr Divyabhanusinh Chavda emphasises that ‘without an effective strategy to assess and tackle the threats posed by illegal trade, the danger is that leopard numbers may decline rapidly, as happened previously to the tiger.’