Written by PPL Newsroom• October 4, 2026• 10:16 am• Nature & Wildlife

WII study finds leopards functionally extinct at two Odisha sites as prey runs short

Camera-trap surveys across the Similipal-Satkosia landscape show leopards thriving where deer and other large prey remain, and vanishing where they do not.

A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) study has found that leopards have become functionally extinct in two protected areas of Odisha’s Similipal-Satkosia landscape. Reported on 3 October 2026, the work was sponsored by the Odisha Forest Department. It shows that India’s overall gain in large carnivores has not reached the east-central region, and it points to a shortage of prey as a main reason.

According to the IANS report on the study, researchers assessed leopards and their prey at key sites in a fragmented forest complex that mixes protected and unprotected land. They ran camera-trap surveys in Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Hadagarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rebana Reserve Forest, and the Satkosia and Mahanadi wildlife divisions of Satkosia Tiger Reserve. Individual leopards were identified by their rosette markings.

What the numbers show

The highest leopard densities were in Satkosia and Mahanadi, at 17.9 and 11.9 leopards per 100 sq km respectively. Put simply, a 100 sq km patch of forest there holds roughly 12 to 18 leopards. In Rebana the figure was only 2.2 per 100 sq km.

In Kuldiha and Hadagarh, the report said, leopards were functionally extinct. That term generally means too few animals remain to play their normal role in the ecosystem or to sustain a population.

The pattern tracked the availability of prey. Satkosia and Mahanadi had more medium and large prey, which formed a major part of the leopard diet. In Kuldiha, Hadagarh and Rebana, medium to large ungulates other than wild boar were either absent or scarce, and small-bodied prey dominated everywhere.

Why it matters beyond the forest

The study warns that falling prey numbers add to human-animal conflict. Leopards usually avoid people, but hungry animals may move towards villages in search of food. The researchers identified habitat destruction, poaching and conflict as continuing threats.

The authors call their findings preliminary. They say the data point to the need for a landscape-scale conservation strategy. In the report’s words, “Based on the preliminary data, our findings highlight the need for a comprehensive, landscape-scale leopard conservation strategy.”

What happens next

The report recommends protecting prey species and boosting their numbers through supplementation. It also calls for reducing human-related threats, better monitoring in unprotected areas, and ecological corridors to help leopards expand their range. It adds that state governments need to step in periodically to restore prey in vulnerable areas.

What this means for India

The national picture is mostly reassuring. The 2022 status report by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and WII put India’s leopards at 13,874, and it recorded Central India and the Eastern Ghats as the fastest-growing landscape, at 1.5 per cent a year. The same report noted declines in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha. The Odisha study shows how such local losses arise: a healthy-looking regional average can hide forests that have lost the prey leopards depend on. Restoring deer and other prey could therefore matter as much as protecting the big cats directly.