Bengaluru is one of the largest cities in India, with over 14 million residents. People aren’t the only residents of the city though.
Bengaluru has the largest population of leopards in India.
Bannerghatta National Park sits on the edge of Bengaluru. An estimated 80-85 leopards live in the Bengaluru area. This includes 54 leopards inside the national park and about 30 roaming around private and government lands.
The estimated number of leopards in all of India is 13,874, but some people think the actual population size could be much higher.
Sanjay Gubbi is a conservationist in India who studies leopards. He explains how leopards manage to live near people in big cities: “They are elusive — they don’t live amidst high-rise buildings or fully human-dominated areas. They live on the edge of cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru, not within the city. They are very shy and keep away from people.”
A resident near the national park tells Mongabay about leopard activity in the area: “I don’t even like it when they sight leopards and circulate pictures of it on social media. It creates unnecessary fear among people,” the resident says, asking not to be named because her neighbors don’t agree with her views on leopards.
The resident adds, “It’s not that bad or scary. They’re on their own. Leopards come and go; they don’t do anything to us unless we provoke them. Of course, it’s important to be careful and protect our pets.”
Sanjay notes that protecting the leopards around Bengaluru requires protecting the Bannerghatta National Park and surrounding forests in the city where the leopards roam.
David Brown adapted this story for Mongabay Kids. It is based on an article by Shradha Triveni, published on Mongabay News.
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