Shy, solitary leopards might lose out to tigers and lions in the game of charisma, but the rosette-patterned big cats are incredibly adaptable — they can survive in the densest of cities just as easily as in forests, grasslands and high mountains.
While highly adaptable, leopards (Panthera pardus), listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, are declining rapidly across most of their range in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, largely due to habitat loss and conflict with people. The big cats are also one of the most illegally traded animal species, coveted for parts like skins, bones, claws and teeth.
For International Leopard Day on May 3, we look back at some of Mongabay’s recent coverage of leopards, particularly in South Asia where they can often be found living alongside human settlements.
India
India’s leopards frequently make headlines after being spotted around towns and cities. In 2018, Mongabay reported on leopards that live, seemingly comfortably, among people in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. Similarly, leopards in central India are increasingly adapting to cities like Indore and Jabalpur as their natural habitat shrinks and cityscapes expand, contributor Sneha Dhamale reported in February 2025.
“With few studies on urban leopards, assessing their presence in cities is now essential,” ecologist Aniruddha Majumder told Mongabay India.
At the same time, in many parts of India, including the northern state of Uttarakhand, conflicts remain high as leopards attack people and livestock, prompting retaliatory attacks, contributor Varsha Singh reported in February 2023.
Nepal
In Nepal, leopards are contracting the canine distemper virus, a dangerous virus that’s previously killed populations of lions in India and Africa, Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi reported in September 2024. “We know that at least some of these cases [in leopards] are fatal, and the priority must now be to understand their significance at a wider population level,” wild carnivore expert Martin Gilbert told Mongabay.
Researchers suspect that while feral dogs are likely responsible for initially transmitting the virus to wildlife, various strains of the virus are also circulating among other wild species that may be carriers.
Joshi also reported in 2023 that a warming climate could push Nepal’s three big cat species — tigers, leopards and snow leopards — to higher elevations as these regions become more habitable. What this means for their survival is still unknown.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the leopard’s situation is particularly dire. Leopards were once prevalent across the country, in almost all habitats, as recently as 1940. But they’ve now disappeared from most areas. The leopard is listed as critically endangered on Bangladesh’s Red List, contributor Rafiqul Islam reported in September 2024.
Most of Bangladesh’s leopards now live in the northern districts near the border with India, where conflict with people — and killing of leopards — remains high. Experts stress an urgent need for surveys and conservation actions to bring the neglected species into national conservation focus in Bangladesh.
Banner image of a leopard by Udayan Dasgupta/Mongabay.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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