Livestock Insurance for Leopard Conflict

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation, has proposed a pilot livestock insurance scheme targeting farmers in the Sigiriya, Okanda, Kilinochchi, Belihuloya and Maskeliya regions. This first-of-its-kind programme offers rapid monetary compensation to farmers who lose livestock to leopard predation, aiming to protect rural livelihoods while curbing retaliatory killings of this keystone species. The broader objective is to pilot test an insurance-based approach to mitigating human-leopard conflict in Sri Lanka — a strategy that aligns with innovative conservation financing models used globally and has the potential to reduce future investment needs associated with rehabilitating threatened species.