Research overview: camera-trap density estimation in conflict landscapes

This overview reviews the application of camera-trap surveys and spatially explicit capture-recapture methods to estimate big-cat density in human-dominated and conflict-prone landscapes. It synthesises studies, prominently of leopards in Indian agricultural and peri-urban areas, that reveal unexpectedly high densities of cats living unseen among people, reshaping assumptions about where predators persist. The literature discusses how density and individual-identification data inform conflict management, problem-animal identification, and population monitoring, and the methodological challenges in cluttered, settled environments. The survey frames camera-trap density estimation as a key tool that quantifies the predator side of conflict, providing the population context needed to interpret depredation rates and design proportionate, evidence-based responses.