Human-wildlife conflict has always been one of the main threats for many species and it has concerned conservation biologists. Free roaming large carnivores are one of the incessant issues about conflicts between human and wildlife. Leopard as one of the most important species in Caucasus is an example of this issue. Due to the importance of this topic and its influence on conservation programmes, a Master Degree project “Analyzing the human-leopard conflict in Alamout and modeling dangerous habitats using MAXENT” was conducted by one of the ICS’s research team members Leila Halakouhi, as part of ICS’s research programs. She successfully defended her thesis at Science and Research department of Islamic Azad University Central Tehran on August 25th. In this research, the human-leopard conflict information including cattle or leopard deaths was collected by interviewing locals and shepherds using qualitative methods in Alamout no hunting area; then the dangerous points for leopard were identified and modeled using Maxent method. The results from interviews indicated a positive attitude toward leopard among the communities. However people were complaining about the conservation interventions and DOE representatives in the region. Results from the modeling, indicates a positive correlation between the villages proximity to trees and shrubs covered habitats and increasing leopard related conflict.
