21 leopard deaths in 3 years,14 due to mishaps on roads, rly tracks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Structural imbalance between human expansion and shrinking wildlife habitat is the major reason behind human-leopard conflict in the region. Nagpur district, which is surrounded by tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries, witnessed 21 leopard deaths in last three years in which 13 deaths took place due to road or railway accidents, revealed the Forest Department. According to Forest Department, between 2023 and 2025, Nagpur district witnessed 21 leopard deaths in which 14 deaths took place due to road and railway accidents, 5 deaths due to natural reason, and 1 each in territorial fight and drowning.

 

Among these 21 leopards, 12 were male and 9 were female leopards who died due to various reasons. As per the senior officials, the majority of accidental deaths took place while the big cats were crossing the road. Despite speed limit on highways for vehicles, people ignore it and prefer overspeeding near forest areas due to which such accidents take place. Like Chandrapur and Brahmapuri, the man-animal conflict has increased drastically in Nagpur district in last 2-3 years and a string of recent leopard attacks across Nagpur district has prompted the Nagpur Forest Division to act swiftly on every call citing leopard sighting.

 

“It is high time the Forest Department acts on the increasing man-animal conflict in the district. Like human deaths, the leopard deaths should also be addressed by the department as majority of deaths are caused due to road accidents,” said Ajinkya Bhatkar, Honorary Wildlife Warden to ‘The Hitavada’. While talking about the recent increase in human-leopard conflict frequency in Nagpur city, Dr Vinita Vyas, Deputy Conservator of Forest said, “Leopards are residing in the outskirts of the city and their venturing in residential localities raised panic among citizens. However, our teams are working hard and responding to every call we are receiving about leopard sighting.” Dr Vyas added, “We also proposed shifting of dumping yard from Bhandewadi as it is a major reason behind frequent intrusion of leopards in Pardi, Bhandewadi and nearby areas.”