Catwalk: Leopards Persist at Moderate Densities While Exhibiting Temporal Segregation From Humans in Telangana's...

Large carnivores, such as leopards (Panthera pardus), are critical for the structure and function of ecosystems but are declining across much of their range. Quantifying their density and behavioural responses in human-dominated landscapes is therefore important for conservation planning. We estimated the density of leopards and their temporal overlap with prey, humans, livestock and other sympatric predators in human-dominated forest patches. We deployed 37 camera traps in the forested area of Boath Range of Ichoda Forest Division, located in Adilabad district, Telangana, India. The camera traps were active for ~42 days which yielded 1243 trap nights from December 2024 to January 2025. We captured a total of 51 independent leopard events at 13 locations. Spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models fit separately to the left and right flanks produced concordant density estimates of 6.37/100 km² (95% CI: 1.89-21.45) and 8.56/100 km² (95% CI: 2.08-35.17), respectively. Analyses of diel activity indicated strong temporal segregation between leopards and humans and livestock, whereas leopards exhibited more temporal overlap with sympatric carnivores and common prey species. Our results suggest that there is a moderate population of leopard persisting within a heavily used landscape, apparently exhibiting temporal partitioning with human risk. However, pervasive human activity could erode this coexistence if left unmanaged. We recommend a holistic approach to human-leopard coexistence to support conservation and local economies based on sustainable use and potential eco-tourism in fragmented forest landscapes.