Scientists get 1,000 video clips from leopard’s camera collar, a first in India
WII scientist Bilal Habib said the camera was removed from the leopard on Thursday and the 1,000 video clips downloaded
DEHRADUN: Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are set to analyse over 1,000 video clips captured by a camera collar affixed on a leopard in Maharashtra’s Junnar region three months ago.
Bilal Habib, the WII scientist who led the research initiative, said the camera was removed from the leopard on Thursday and the 1,000 video clips, each 30 seconds long, downloaded. They are being analysed by experts at WII.
Camera collars have long been used by scientists to track and study wild animals elsewhere in the world.
This was the first time in India that a camera collar captured the world through the eyes of a wild leopard, Habib said in a post on X.
“Deployed as part of a research initiative, this groundbreaking footage offers an intimate glimpse into the life and landscape of one of India’s most elusive big cats. A remarkable step forward in blending science, technology, and conservation for deeper understanding and coexistence,” he said.
“We will now analyse videos which will provide us a rare glimpse into the life of leopards in the Junnar region, a sugarcane belt in Maharashtra, which has often reported incidents of man-leopard conflict. The video data will help us in understanding the movement pattern and behaviour of the leopards”, Habib told HT.
He added that the study was being conducted as part of a 2019 agreement between WII and the Maharashtra government. Under this agreement, 13 leopards have been radio collared and one was camera collared to understand and suggest measures for checking increasing man-leopard conflict in the Junnar region.
