Patterns, costs, and drivers of livestock depredations by leopards, in rural settlements of Pakistan

Human-carnivore conflicts have been a most important driver of carnivore population declines globally. We investigated patterns, costs, and drivers of human-leopard conflicts in Banna Valley, Pakistan during 2017-2018. Since topographic and environmental factors can influence the frequency of livestock depredations by leopards, we used leopard depredations to investigate if changes in topographic and environmental factors influenced depredations. We collected data from 150 respondents in 20 villages who lost 300 domestic animals to leopards. Leopards mainly killed goats (86 %), followed by dogs (8 %), and guarding strategies used did not reduce depredations. Depredations typically occurred in July-August (55 %) during 1300-1800 h (61 %) and 2200-0000 h (31 %), with 53 % of reported depredations outside of villages. More depredations occurred during summer (76.67 %, n = 115) than in autumn (12 %, n = 18), winter (10 %, n = 15), or spring (n = 2, 1 %). The overall estimated economic loss from livestock depredations during 2017-2018 was 87,818 USD, with an average annual loss per respondent of 292.7 USD (24.39 USD/month/respondent). Livestock depredations by leopard resulted in economic losses ranging from 8 % to 24 % of the average annual income of respondents. Most respondents had negative perceptions of leopards and did not support their conservation (90.6 %, n = 136). Respondents most frequently recommended lethal control (36 %) to mitigate human-carnivore conflicts. Our results showed that with increase in mean diurnal temperature range (Bio2), minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6), precipitation f the driest month (Bio14), distance to forest, distance to settlements, distance to protected areas and NDVI livestock depredation by leopard decreased. On contrary, with the increase in density of human settlements the livestock depredation by leopard increased in the study area. Encouraging continued use of corrals, increased guarding of livestock, particularly in the afternoon and during summer, altering the types of livestock kept (e.g., cattle) that experiences reduced risk of depredation by leopard, and restoring native prey species could reduce the frequency of livestock depredations and facilitate human-leopard coexistence.

Automated summary

Human-leopard conflicts in Banna Valley, Pakistan have contributed significantly to the decline in leopard populations. Attacks by leopards are most frequent during the afternoon and evening, especially outside of protected areas. The livestock depredation by leopards results in substantial economic losses, but measures such as constructing corrals, increasing guarding efforts, and changing the types of livestock kept can reduce the frequency of depredations and promote coexistence.