IT capital of India has a wild side too

Amid worries over vanishing green cover, here’s some surprising news: there are about 40 leopards on the outskirts of Bengaluru, not to mention dholes, elephants, gaurs, sloth bears, and a lone tiger.

It might come as a shock but about 20 to 25 km from the city, in Bannerghatta, one can have close encounters with a variety of wild animals, making the city probably the only metropolis in India to have such diverse animals right next to it.

Now, a new study has underlined the richness of the mammalian population around Bengaluru with the detection of 40 leopards in the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP).

The study — conducted by wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi and his team from the Nature Conservation Foundation in collaboration with the Karnataka Forest Department using camera traps — has recorded 40 leopards adjacent to the city.

In fact, the abundance of leopards at the BNP is said to be higher compared to many other protected areas in the country. Gubbi said the presence of so many leopards was very encouraging, considering that BNP is one of the few protected areas in the country that abuts a large metropolis.

“The high abundance could be due to high density of prey, sambar and chital, or absence of tigers in large numbers which otherwise act as competitors to leopards in food and space,” Gubbi explained.

Currently, BNP has recorded a lone tiger, which has also been reconfirmed during the present study.

The study also found the presence of Bengal fox and Madras tree shrew (Anathana ellioti) in BNP, which were not recorded at the park earlier.

Based on the findings, the team has recommended that connectivity between BNP and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary needs to be maintained for the movement of wildlife as leopards spotted in Cauvery sanctuary have also been found in BNP.

This apart, the team has also urged the government to declare 3,250 acres of deemed forests in the north-western part of BNP comprising Roerich Estate, where the government wants to build a film city, UM Kaval and BM Kaval, as a conservation reserve.