Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: New York
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

In Nepal, human-leopard conflict threatens food security of local communities as a result of livestock loss and causes injuries and death to both humans and leopards. We aim to understand key drivers and impacts of human-leopard interactions across a rural-urban gradient and to generate well-informed policy-led interventions for sustainable conservation actions. We will conduct an analysis of leopard diet to better understand the extent to which leopards prey on livestock and feral species and we will develop a spatial conflict risk model that will help to manage or mitigate human-leopard interactions. In partnership with two national conservation champions, we seek to secure national policy commitment by developing a National Policy document to enable site-specific sustainable conflict management responses, and promote local stewardship for the survival of leopards in shared landscapes without compromising human well-being.