The city is home to over nine million people, and another million floats in and out, but guess who else? Big cats! Yes, big cats, leopards, in particular. In fact, they walk some of the same pathways that morning walkers do, and a few of the same roads that motorists speed on daily. And as the city expands into their natural habitats, they are coming into contact with humans more often, and incidents of big cats attacking people are being reported.
When an eight-year-old male leopard strayed into a school in the Kundalahalli area early this year, injuring six people, it made the headlines. But there are many untold stories of big cat sightings in the city. Ask Sanjay Gubbi, the Wildlife Biologist who was bitten by the Kundalahalli leopard during the rescue operation!
Gubbi, who has data on the big cats from his camera traps and who monitors human-animal conflict incidents, says the leopards have made the city their home of sorts. They are found in places in the city that have a mix of natural vegetation and man-made sub-optimal green cover, including eucalyptus plantations. Some of these places are in Hesarghatta, K.G. Lakkenahalli, Kempegowdanagara, near Magadi road, Kengeri, Kumbalgodu, Soladevanahalli, BM Kaaval, areas around Kanakapura Road, routes leading in and out of Bannerghatta, and on areas along the NICE corridor. The data also shows that there are even more of them closer to their natural settings on the edges of Bannerghatta National Park.
Why have the leopards chosen to ‘stay on’ in this concrete jungle, and how long can they survive in it? "As natural habitats such as dry decidous forests, scrubs and rocky outcrops make way for the city's ‘development’, some leopards, which are a hardy species, continue to survive in sub-optimal habitats”, Gubbi says, “But I am not sure how long they will survive in such areas. We have already lost leopards in Thurahalli, Yelahanka and other areas. Not long ago, one found evidence of leopards regularly in the Jnana Bharati campus. Now, we don’t hear of them in this area anymore”.
“It's a pity that as their habitats suffer further destruction, leopards may go locally extinct in and around Bengaluru. I hope that does not happen, but we have to monitor their populations”.
Gubbi hastens to add, "There is little scientific evidence, but I am sure they will not live amidst high-rise buildings. They will go locally extinct when the remaining connectivity to their natural habitats, such as Bannerghatta National Park, is cut off. Around the country, wherever leopards have survived near large cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Mysuru, Jaipur, there are natural habitats close by”.
It’s important to protect the Bannerghatta National Park and other reserved forests as well as the connectivity to them for the leopards to eventually move into their natural habitats. In the meantime, the city needs trained teams and equipment to rapidly respond to incidents of humans coming into conflict with the big cats.
