Aligarh: Dr. Nazneen Zehra, Assistant Professor, Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University presented a talk on "Abundance, habitat, food habits, home range, movement pattern and leopard-human conflict in Gir landscape, Gujarat, India: Need for a viable model" in the 5-day online virtual conference, organized by the Africa Massive, in collaboration with the Catmosphere Foundation.

Dr. Nazneen emphasized an urgent need for the protection and conservation of leopards throughout their range as the global leopard population and distribution are declining fast. She said this species of big cats are most adaptable and can venture out anywhere, and major threats to leopard survival occur commonly across the 63 countries.

She said that with a large range and wider movement pattern, the leopards can live and thrive anywhere, whether in protected areas or in close proximity to villages or agro-farms.