Leopard population tracking gets new approach

The Indian Leopard has larger rosettes (black spots) than the other subspecies, with a paler coat in desert habitats, greyer in colder climes and more ochre in rainforest habitats.
They are sexually dimorphic, with males larger and heavier than females.
They are solitary predators who remain well-camouflaged at night but come down from trees to hunt during the day. They usually drag their kill up to the trees.
IUCN assessment groups all leopard subspecies together as Vulnerable, recommends a full assessment of the Indian Leopard population, as there may now be fewer than 10,000 mature individuals.
The population has been severely affected by poaching for skins and body parts for the illegal wildlife trade.

It is Assam based environment conservation organisation which works to foster conservation of biodiversity in Northeast India through research, environmental education, capacity building and advocacy for legal and policy reform to usher a new era of ecological security.

Panthera is the only organization in the world that is devoted exclusively to the conservation of the world’s 40 wild cat species and their ecosystems.

Usually leopards like tigers have unique patterns on their bodies. These leopards are called rosette leopards. Since the patterns are unique, it helps to count the number of leopards accurately through camera traps.
But some leopards are born with melanism, which makes skin black. Melanistic leopards — commonly called black leopards or black panthers, have been difficult to estimate as their rosettes are invisible.
Scientists from 3 organisations ( Aaranyak of Assam, Panthera of US and WWF-India) have devised a new system for leopard calculation. This system is called the Spatial Mark-Resight (SMR) model.
In the SMR models, capture history of the rosette leopards is borrowed and is applied on the information on the melanistic leopards to estimate the entire population size of leopards.
It helps to assess the population of leopards across a great part of the species range from where population estimates are scant.
Some scientists suggest that SMR models can be used to calculate other big cats too than conventional camera trapping methods.

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