Bhubaneswar, Mar 2: The Odisha government Friday said it would conduct leopard count across the state from May.
The wildlife wing of the Odisha forest department said this after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) estimated a decline of 192 leopards in the state in four years.
The NTCA report on the status of leopards in India-2022 said that there are 568 leopards in the forests of Odisha that was 760 in 2022.
On the other hand, the report said the number of leopards has increased to 13,874 in 2022 from 12,852 in 2018.
However, Odisha Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Susant Nanda, raising doubts on the report said that the NTCA had installed cameras to take pictures of leopards in 14 places in Odisha forests during the 2018 survey, this time, they used such techniques only in three places such as Similipal, Satkosia and Sunabeda.
No cameras were installed in the core area of the Similipal National Park, where the number of leopards is said to be significant, he claimed adding that the state government has decided to launch its estimation of leopards from May.
