Does the size of a protected area matter? An assessment of leopard population and habitat usage in a protected area of Shiwalik foothills, Himalaya

Small protected areas, while often considered less important than large protected areas, are also important for the conservation of wide-ranging and low-density large carnivore populations. But these protected areas must have a sufficient prey base, controlled wildlife crime, and interconnectivity with other protected areas in order to be effective. In the foothills of Shiwalik, Himalaya, the 46.8 km² Kalesar National Park (KNP) is a dry deciduous forest. We used data collected with camera traps to estimate leopard density using spatial explicit capture-recapture (SECR) model and to model the effects of ecological and anthropogenic variables on habitat use of leopard using generalized linear models. The estimated leopard density was 19.31 ± 5.10 (S.E.) individuals/100 km², which is high as compared to many other areas on the Indian subcontinent. Leopard habitat use was positively associated with sambar and wild boar availability, tree number, human disturbance, and distance to road and was negatively associated with chital availability and distance to water. KNP likely has a high density of leopards due to high prey availability and the absence of a dominant competitor (lions or tigers), despite high human disturbance and livestock presence throughout the park. This study will serve as an important baseline for insights into the population dynamics of leopards and creating conservation and management strategies in small protected areas such as KNP. Our results suggest the considerable conservation potential of small protected areas, and we propose that such areas might help to achieve conservation goals.