Leopards are the most adaptable of the large cats and survive in landscapes where other big cats have disappeared — but this adaptability brings them into increasingly deadly conflict with humans in peri-urban areas.
Leopard welfare in human-dominated landscapes involves acute and chronic stress from proximity to a species they evolved to fear. In areas like Mumbai's Sanjay Gandhi National Park, leopards living within city boundaries must navigate territories that overlap with human residential areas, waste disposal sites, and heavy foot traffic. Human-leopard encounters cause fear responses in both species — leopards that attack humans are typically translocated to unfamiliar territories where they must reestablish food sources, mates, and boundaries under high stress. Translocated leopards frequently return to their capture location or enter conflict in new areas. Snare injuries cause chronic pain and disability that impairs hunting ability, leading to eventual starvation. Retaliatory poisoning with toxic baits causes slow, agonizing death.