Conservation of large carnivores like leopards requires large and
interconnected habitats. Despite the wide geographic range of the
leopard globally, only 17% of their habitat is within protected areas.
In Nepal, leopards are distributed widely across the country but their
status is not adequately studied which compromised the necessary
conservation attention for the species. This study carried out
sign-based occupancy survey across the Chure (the Himalayan foothills)
range (~19,000 km2) to understand the habitat occupancy
of leopards along with the covariates affecting their presence. The
model-averaged leopard occupancy in the Chure range was 0.5732 (0.0082
SD) with a detection probability of 0.2554 (0.1142 SE). The top model
included wild boar, ruggedness, presence of livestock and human
population density as covariates. The β coefficient estimate from the
model indicated the wild boar was the primary covariate contributing
positively to the leopard occupancy followed by the presence of
livestock, ruggedness and human population density. The detection
probability of leopard was higher outside the protected areas, less in
the densely vegetated areas, and higher in the area where there is a
presence of livestock. Enhanced law enforcement and mass awareness
activities are necessary to reduce poaching/killing of wild ungulates
and leopard in the Chure range and to increase leopard occupancy. In
addition, maintaining a sufficient natural prey base can contribute to
minimize the livestock depredation and hence, decrease the human-leopard
conflict in the Chure range.
Protected areas as refuges for pest species? The case of wild boar
