PUNESeventeen months after the Maharashtra government submitted a proposal for a leopard birth control programme, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) granted its approval on Monday, making it the country’s first such initiative.
The pilot will begin in Junnar, a region that has emerged as the epicentre of human–leopard conflict in the state and is one of the most challenging landscapes for big cat management in the country. The region is dotted with sugarcane fields and human settlements where the movement of leopards is swift and capturing them is a challenge.
The programme will be implemented in phases. “In the first phase, the birth control experiment will be executed on five female leopards,” said chief conservator of forest, Pune circle, Ashish Thakre, who also confirmed that the department had received communication from the Centre about the programme on Monday.
Forest minister Ganesh Naik, who was in Pune on Monday for a review meeting on the growing conflict, made the announcement, describing the project as a “crucial step” in managing the rising number of leopards in the sugarcane belts. The population of the big cats in the Pune district is estimated to be around 1300, as mentioned by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis last week in Mumbai, when he was asked about the ongoing situation of conflict in Pune and Nashik districts.
Naik, who had recently announced a shoot-at-sight diktat in the face of increasing attacks in the villages, said on Monday that the “effectiveness of the programme will be evident in six months”. If the results are encouraging, similar birth control interventions will be proposed for Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts, where the conflicts have intensified.
Maharashtra has been experiencing a steep rise in cases of conflict for nearly a decade, the last five years being particularly severe. Encounters between leopards and humans have resulted in repeated attacks in encircled villages, largescale livestock losses and a surge in rescue and relocation operations.
Five villagers lost their lives to leopard attacks in Pune district since April 2025, the last on November 1 when a 13-year-old boy was mauled to death by a leopard in Pimparkhed village, of Shirur tehsil, triggering a strong reaction from locals.
The project trail
The project’s greenlighting is backed by a long administrative trail. The state first sent the proposal to the Centre in January 2024. In March of that year, the MoEFCC sought clarifications, prompting the state to submit a revised version in June 2024. The Centre then handed over the proposal to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in December 2024. WII, which had already completed a four-year study on leopard behaviour in Junnar between 2020 and 2024, was familiar with the landscape and tested the idea on a limited scale during its fieldwork. After reviewing Maharashtra’s plan, WII submitted its recommendation to the Centre in September 2025, clearing the way for final approval.
Once the experiment kicks off five female leopards will be taken to the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Pune district, where they will be subjected to an immunocontraceptive procedure. The method, widely used in wildlife population management globally, is considered less invasive than surgical options. It is designed to temporarily control fertility without harming the animal. Maharashtra is the first state in India to attempt such an intervention, though Gujarat and West Bengal had discussed similar ideas, which did not fructify.
“A committee headed by the deputy conservator of forest, Junnar, will be formed within the next two days to supervise execution,” Thakare said, adding that the absence of standard operating procedures (SOPs) poses a challenge. “The department will need to design its protocol with extreme caution, prioritising animal welfare, scientific rigour and continuous monitoring.”
The various phases of execution will involve capturing and radio-collaring the animals, establishing monitoring protocols, setting timelines for booster doses of contraceptive treatment and coordinating with WII. Thakre said, “If the pilot in Junnar demonstrates measurable reduction in conflict over the next year, the model could influence national policy on managing high-density big cat populations.”
Conflict politics
The human-animal conflict resonated in political turf war in recent times. When the ruling alliance lost the Shirur seat in last year’s Lok Sabha elections (Shivajirao Adhalrao of NCP lost to Amol Kolhe to NCP-SP), local resentment over repeated leopard attacks was cited as a factor. The forest department faced mounting pressure to respond swiftly, with elected representatives demanding “strict action” after every major incident. At one point, the department was pushed to issue multiple elimination orders in different regions, a move that triggered debate within conservation circles.
“Against this backdrop, the birth control drive is being projected by the government as a long-term, scientific alternative to routine capture, translocation and conflict-triggered action,” said Thakre.