Overview
- Lawmakers approved the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2026, by voice vote after debate centered on rising human–leopard encounters.
- The amendment to Section 12 authorizes the state’s chief wildlife warden to permit relocation to suitable habitats, sterilisation, and research aimed at preventing leopard entry into settlements.
- Forest Minister Ganesh Naik said the bill does not allow hunting and asserted it is not intended to move leopards from Schedule I to Schedule II.
- Some reports cite language proposing a shift to Schedule II, which the government disputes, as opposition leader Aaditya Thackeray and activists press for select-committee scrutiny and a science-led management plan.
- The measure still requires state council, gubernatorial and presidential clearances and would function within Union law, while activists urge targeted, case-by-case responses in hotspots such as Junnar, Nashik and the Mumbai region, with calls for a technical committee.