India's first leopard reserve offers lessons in coexistence, conservation

Leopard population has risen from 19 in 2017 to over 36 today

Every day as the sun begins to set, Nandi, the old keeper of a gaushala (cow shed) near Chulgiri Jain temple, merely 20 minutes from Jai­pur’s commercial hub Mirza Ismail Road, begins his daily task. Steel buckets of water in either hand and a bag of seed on his shoulder, he goes to the forest behind his home to fill the dozen-odd water holes that he and other residents have built. “These arid hills are home to several leopards that have strayed from Jhalana Leopard Safari Park,” he says. “This water helps them survive Jaipur’s summer.”

Nandi is not alone in