Big cat in well: an unconventional threat to leopards in southern India
S ANJAY G UBBI,APARNA K OLEKAR,PALLABI C HAKRABORTY and V IJAYA K UMARA
Abstract The Vulnerable leopard Panthera pardus is de- this unconventional threat was not previously known, we clining as a result of poaching, habitat loss, retaliatory killing examine the spatio-temporal trends of leopard falls into and collisions with vehicles. In the southern Indian state of open wells, report the outcomes of the falls, and make Karnataka there is also an unconventional threat that has recommendations for mitigating this emerging threat. received little attention: leopards accidentally falling into Our study area comprises the , km of the state of unsecured open wells. During – there were Karnataka in southern India, with its administrative dis- incidents of leopards falling into wells, in of districts, tricts and subdistricts or taluks. Land cover comprises with the greatest number recorded in Udupi district (%). forests, agro-forest plantations, rocky outcrops, grasslands, Leopards were released at the site (%, n = ), or assisted urban areas and agricultural land (Roy et al., ). to escape on their own or were translocated after rescue We collated data from vernacular (Kannada) and English (%, n = ). Eleven per cent (n = ) of the leopards died media reports from to , and obtained Forest as a result of the fall, and %(n=) were sent to zoos, Department records for –. We also collected forest with serious injuries. The highest number of falls occurred cover data from the Karnataka Forest Department. We seg- during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons in districts regated information on date and location of leopard falls with high rainfall, which may curtail visibility. Open wells into open wells, the condition of the wells, and outcomes. are an emerging threat to the leopard and other animal We classified the seasons as winter (January–February), species, and require covers and the security of a parapet. pre-monsoon (March–May), monsoon (June–September) and post-monsoon (October–December), following Kotahwale Keywords India, leopard, open well, Panthera pardus, & Rajeevan, . We used administrative districts as the spatio-temporal trend, threats geographical unit of analysis. We mapped the distribution of leopard fall incidents for June –December , he Vulnerable leopard Panthera pardus is highly resili- using ArcGIS . (Esri, Redlands, USA), on the forest ent and adaptable, surviving in diverse habitats, includ- cover layer for Karnataka state. T – ing in human-dominated landscapes (Daniel, ) where it During the years , incidents were recorded depends on food sources such as domestic dogs and live- in districts of Karnataka (Fig. ), with the highest number stock (Athreya et al., ). Although widely distributed, ( %) in Udupi district. There was an increase from two inci- leopard populations are declining across the species’ range dents in to in , and a decline thereafter (Fig. ). as a result of habitat loss, prey depletion, poaching, re- The greatest number of incidents occurred in the monsoon taliatory killing and collisions with vehicles (Gubbi et al., season (Fig. ). All the wells were unsecured and open, and ; Jacobson et al., ). In India, leopards are found in many ( %) did not have stairs or a platform that would multiple-use forests, rocky outcrops, and communal and allow an animal to escape. Out of the incidents for which private lands (Gubbi et al., ). In areas with dense data on the rescue methods were available, rescues were carried human populations, where water wells are abundant, leo- out using a ladder, nets or cages in cases ( . %), following pards have accidentally fallen into open wells while chasing sedation of the leopard using a tranquilizing gun in four cases prey or running away from people (Ghule et al., ). These ( . %), and in one incident ( . %) the leopard was scared out unsecured structures are a danger to humans and wildlife, of the well using a fire torch. Twenty-nine ( %) of the leo- and there are reports of leopards dying as a result of falling pards were translocated after medical inspection and treat- into these open wells (Athreya et al., ). As the extent of ment, if required, ( %) were released at the same site or were assisted to escape on their own, eight (%) died as a result of the fall and five (%) were sent to zoos, with serious injuries. SANJAY GUBBI* (Corresponding author) Aparna Kolekar and Pallabi Chakraborty From the same media sources we also recorded inci- Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311, 12th Main Vijayanagara, Mysore, 570 dents of other wildlife species falling into open wells during 017, India. E-mail [email protected] the same period, including Bengal fox Vulpes bengalensis, VIJAYA KUMARA Department of Wildlife & Management, Kuvempu University, sloth bear Melursus ursinus,smallIndiancivetViverricula Shankarghatta, India indica,elephantElephas maximus,gaurBos gaurus,sambar *Also at: Department of Wildlife & Management, Kuvempu University, Shankarghatta, India Rusa unicolor,blackbuckAntilope cervicapra,chitalAxis axis, muntjac Muntiacus vaginalis and mugger crocodile Croco- Received January . Revision requested February . Accepted March . dylus palustris. These incidents resulted in mortalities.
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FIG. 1 The distribution of incidents of leopards Panthera pardus falling into unsecured open wells (n = ) in the state of Karnataka, India.
To our knowledge this is the first compilation of in- formation on leopards falling into open wells. In compari- son, there were a total of leopard mortalities as a result of collisions with vehicles in Karnataka over years (July –June ; Gubbi et al., ), and Athreya et al. () reported nine leopard deaths as a result of poaching and two as a result of retaliatory killing over a -month period (May –April ). Our findings indicate that mortality and injury of leopards falling into open wells is an emerging threat. As with other unnatural causes of mortality, this is a cause for concern. The greatest number of incidents occurred during the monsoon season, possibly as a result of the lower visibility at this time. The districts with the highest incidences (Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada) receive FIG. 2 The number of leopards per year falling into open wells high rainfall (annual totals of c. , , , and , mm, (n = ) in Karnataka (Fig. ) during –. respectively). These three districts are geographically
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falling into open wells is not a risk for other leopard subspe- cies but, with leopards being increasingly documented in human-settled areas, any open wells will need to be securely covered to prevent any increase in this emerging threat.
Acknowledgements We thank the Karnataka Forest Department for providing the data on leopard fall incidents and other support the Central Ground Water Board for providing data on open wells, and a Kaplan Graduate Fellowship and Whitley Fund for Nature for financial support.
FIG. 3 Per cent of the toal number of leopards (n = ) falling Author contributions Conceptualization: SG; data collection: AK, into unsecured open wells in each of the four seasons in SG; data processing and analysis: AK, PC, SG; writing: all authors. Karnataka during –. Conflicts of interest None.
contiguous. That not all falls into open wells resulted in Ethical standards This research abided by the Oryx guidelines on injury or death may be a result of the high water levels in ethical standards and did not involve human subjects, experimentation the wells during the monsoon season, as leopards swim with animals and/or collection of specimens. reasonably well and thus may have saved themselves from drowning. References In most incidents the forest department rescued the leo- pards, although in a few cases the general public undertook ATHREYA, V., ODDEN, M., LINNELL, J.D.C., KRISHNASWAMY,J.& the rescues when the department did not respond in a timely KARANTH, K.U. ( ) A cat among the dogs: leopard Panthera pardus diet in a human-dominated landscape in western manner. These falls can lead to stress, injury and death of Maharashtra, India. Oryx, , –. the leopard, and also pose a risk to people if the leopard ATHREYA, V., SRIVATHSA, A., PURI, M., KARANTH, K.K., KUMAR, N.S. manages to escape from the well. Media reports indicated &KARANTH, K.U. () Spotted in the news: using media reports to that people were largely cooperative with the relevant au- examine leopard distribution, depredation, and management practices thorities in most of the incidents, although in some cases outside protected areas in southern India. PLOS ONE, ,e . DANIEL, J.C. () The Leopard in India: a Natural History. Natraj negative reactions that resulted in injury to the leopard Publishers, Dehradun, India. were recorded. GHULE, A., ATHREYA, V., LINNELL, J., ODDEN,M.&LENIN,J.() Leopards have a varied diet, including domestic animals Waghoba Tales: Adventures in Leopard Land. NINA Special Report (Athreya et al., ), and they roam into human-dominated . Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway. areas, especially farmlands, where there may be unsecured GUBBI, S., NAGASHETTIHALLI, H., BHAT, R., POORNESHA, H.C., ANOOP, A. and MADHUSUDAN, M.D. () Ecology and open wells. The responsibility of covering and securing Conservation of Leopards in Protected and Multiple-Use Forests these open wells with a parapet should fall to the forest in Karnataka. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, India. department’s community conservation initiatives, such as GUBBI, S., POORNESHA, H.C., DAITHOTA,A.&NAGASHETTIHALLI, Joint Forest Management Committees and Eco-development H. () Roads emerging as a critical threat to leopards in India. – Committees, and to the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Cat News, , . GUBBI, S., POORNESHA, H.C., NAGASHETTYHALLI,H.&KOLEKAR,A. Management and Planning Authority. () Safely Handling Situations When Leopards Enter Human To prevent harm to either people or leopards during the Dense Areas. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, India. rescue of leopards from open wells the forest department JACOBSON, A.P., GERNGROS, P., LEMERIS,JR, J.R., SCHOONOVER, R.F., requires appropriate equipment, the ability to respond in ANCO, C., BREITENMOSER-WÜRSTEN, C. et al. () Leopard a timely manner, and crowd handling skills. The audio- (Panthera pardus) status, distribution, and the research efforts across its range. PeerJ, ,e. visual guidelines for safely handling leopards occurring KOTHAWALE,D.R.&RAJEEVAN,M.( ) Monthly, Seasonal and in densely populated areas (Gubbi et al., ) could be Annual Rainfall Time Series for All-India, Homogeneous Regions adopted in states where such incidents occur. and Meteorological Subdivisions: –. Report No. RR-, The leopard was recently uplisted from Near Threatened ESSO/IITM/STCVP/SR/()/. Indian Institute of Tropical to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with documentation Meteorology, Pune, India. ROY, P.S., BEHERA, M.D., MURTHY, M.S R., ROY, A., SINGH, A., of some region-specific threats in India (Jacobson et al., . KUSHWAHA, S.P.S. et al. ( ) New vegetation type map of India ). With India comprising % of the extant range prepared using satellite remote sensing: comparison with global of Panthera pardus fusca (Jacobson et al., ), any emer- vegetation maps and utilities. International Journal of Applied Earth ging threats need to be documented. As far as we are aware, Observation and Geoinformation, , –.
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