India, Feb. 23 -- LUCKNOW The forest department is initiating a first-of-its-kind project in UP aimed at reducing rising instances of man-animal conflicts by managing the leopard population through immunocontraception. The plan will initially be rolled out in Bijnor district, a region notably affected by leopard-related incidents, where 35 lives have been lost and 55 individuals injured in 90 leopard-human encounters since 2023.

Bijnor is home to 446 villages that have reported leopard presence, with 40 categorized in a highly sensitive zone, 80 in a sensitive zone and the remaining 326 identified as affected areas. The Nagina, Najibabad and Chandpur forest ranges have been recognized as hot spots for leopard sightings, as indicated in a...