A village in Hamirpur district portraying a landscape similar to our study area. Credit: Dhee.

Earlier this week, People and Nature published new research from the Wildlife Conservation Society – India, examining the role of beliefs, myths and stories in influencing people’s perception of animals.

The study explores the relationship between humans and leopards in Himachal Pradesh, India, a rural landscape where humans and leopards have co-existed for decades. The aim of the study was to examine the factors other than socio-economics and ecology that contribute to the human-leopard relationship.

So what did the researchers discover? Find out here:

The leopard that learnt from the cat and other narratives of carnivore–human coexistence in northern India

Plain language summary: The Leopard that Learnt from the Cat

Wildlife Conservation Society – India press release

Camera trap image from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Credit: Himachal Pradesh Forest Department and Wildlife Conservation Society-India.