Maharashtra’s Junnar Forest Division has administered an immune-contraceptive vaccine to two female leopards in a pilot project aimed at managing human-wildlife conflict in areas where people and leopards frequently come into contact.
The two leopards were released back into the wild after receiving the vaccine. The study has been approved by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Conservator of Forest Ashish Thakare said, according to the forest department.
The project is being carried out by the Junnar Forest Division in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, or ICMR-NIRRCH, and veterinary experts from Team RESQ. Its immediate objective is to assess whether birth control can help manage leopard populations in landscapes with frequent human-wildlife interactions.
ICMR researchers will analyse blood samples collected from the animals to monitor hormonal changes and assess the vaccine’s effects over time, forest department officials said. Frontline forest staff are handling field operations, with veterinary support from Team RESQ. The department is also monitoring the two leopards after their release.
The intervention is being tested in a landscape where the challenge is not limited to protected forests. Leopards in parts of Maharashtra move through agricultural and settled areas, bringing wildlife management into direct contact with villages, farms, roads and other inhabited spaces. The pilot therefore involves both animal-health monitoring and the operational work of tracking animals after treatment.
Wildlife conservationist Kedar Gore of the Corbett Foundation described the project as a humane intervention for managing wild leopard populations. He said the effects of immune-contraceptive vaccines are temporary, lasting two to three years, but called the project a first-of-its-kind effort on leopards that could generate information on its success and possible use in other landscapes.
Advocate Pawan Sharma, founder and president of the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare, said scientific interventions were needed in landscapes outside protected areas. He said pilot projects could improve understanding of the animals, including their behaviour, territoriality, aggression and hunting patterns.
The project is overseen by senior Maharashtra forest officials, including Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) M Shrinivas Reddy, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife-West) Ravikiran Govekar, Chief Conservator of Forests, Pune, Ashish Thakare, and Chief Conservator of Forests, Mumbai, Jitendra Ramgaonkar. Dr Shantibhushan Jha is also associated with the study.
The next stage will involve continued field monitoring and analysis of blood samples to determine the vaccine’s hormonal effects and document how the treated leopards respond after returning to the wild.
