NAGPUR: In Maharashtra, one leopard is dying every two days. Officially, in the last 140 days, 87 leopards have died in the state. If the deaths keep happening at this speed, the majestic cat may become a rare sight. Of the 87 deaths, 47 are claimed to be natural and 33 due to road accidents. Road hits continue to be a major cause for concern. As per official data, two leopards were poached, one electrocuted, while three died due to unknown reasons. However, on January 5-6, 2021 two leopards were poached in the Goregaon range in the Gondia forest division. This was followed by poisoning of two animals in Bhandara in February. One animal was poached in the Sadak Arjuni range this month. Overall, in Bhandara and Gondia districts alone, five leopards have been poached. According to the database of wildlife law enforcement NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), nine cases of poaching and seizure of leopard body parts have been recorded in Maharashtra since January 1, 2021. “Road accidents appear to be the biggest reason behind unnatural deaths of leopards in the state. Widening of roads and increased speeds of vehicles are resulting in many animals being killed. Better mitigation measures need to be taken to avoid such deaths,” said Nitin Desai, director, WPSI. In 2020, 172 leopard deaths were recorded in the state. This was a 57% jump as compared to 2019 when the toll was 110. Stung by a large number of deaths, the 16th meeting of the State Wildlife Board (SWBL) chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced to set up an 11-member technical group of experts and officials to suggest measures to curb leopard-human conflict. “We are ready with the draft report, but owing to Covid-19 spread, the committee was unable to meet. We will meet and submit the report to PCCF (wildlife) soon,” said M Adarsh Reddy, deputy conservator of forests (DyCF) who is member-secretary of the expert group. The road widening projects are the biggest threat to big cats. This can be gauged from the fact that in 2020, 34 leopards had died in road accidents during the entire year. In 2021, 33 leopards have died in less than five months. As per the MoEFCC’s ‘Status of leopards in India’ report released in December last year, Maharashtra has 1,690 leopards, which is the third-largest population in the country. Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of leopards (3,421), followed by Karnataka (1,783). “Having more leopards doesn’t mean these animals should be left to die. Every small road in the state is being widened despite low traffic volume. The highways ministry and PWD is expanding more than 15,000km roads. It is high time forest department, NHAI and PWD together decide on mitigation measures,” said green activist Shrikant Deshpande.