Concerned over the lack of concern for conservation of leopards, the Nature Watch India called for shifting the category of Indian leopard from vulnerable A-2 to endangered in the Red list.

National convener of Nature Watch India, Rajeshwar Singh Negi, who is from Himachal Pradesh, hammered the need for ‘Project Leopard’ like the ‘Project Tiger’ by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Wildlife to save the wild cat from extinction.

"The project should be administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, which be renamed, National Tiger and Leopard Conservation Authority. The states falling under such project, be given special funding and technical assistance, modern equipment and conservation skills,” Negi told reporters here.

He said the Shivalik Tarai region especially Himachal, Haryana and Uttrakhand, the western ghats including Maharashtra, Gujarat and the central region like Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan among others be made the focal points of ‘Project Leopard’.

Listing the points in the memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister of India, Chairman of National Board for Wildlife with copies endorsed to the Director General, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the Nature Watch India convener pointed out that the leopards continue to be killed regularly by mob lynching, poisoning and organised poaching.

“On an average 200 leopards are reported to be killed annually for poaching. And as per central customs assessment methodology, the number arrived at is 2000 leopards annually. Around 99 per cent of all leopards killed are smuggled for international trade in its skin and body parts,” he said.

As per National Census of Leopards, 2015, there are about 7000 leopards in the areas around Tiger Reserves, where they are better protected and another 4000 to 5000 in India, totalling about 12000.

He said with the stricter monitoring and reduction in Tiger Population, the leopard has become the principal victim and substitute.

“There is no effort on conservation of the wild animal and the forest officials order killing of leopards if they stray into human habitations,”Negi said.

He criticised the Himachal government for not following the National Tiger Conservation Authority notifying guidelines and said 26 leopards, were being kept in captivity in the state with no concern for rehabilitation and relocation.