State animal, bird among endangered species The only thing common to many of the wild animals of the Valley, be it the elegant hangul or the ferocious Himalayan brown bear, is that they are all facing a battle against extinction. The endangered or critically endangered species of the state include hangul, markhor, Tibetan antelope, musk deer, ibex, Himalayan brown and black bear, common leopard and black-necked crane. The critically endangered ‘state animal’, hangul, a sub-species of European red deer, is the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir and is marked as critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the first global environment organisation. In the beginning of the 1900, 3,000 to 5,000 hanguls were believed to have lived in Kashmir. The number fell to 1,000-2,000 in 1947. In 1996, hanguls were almost on the verge of extinction as their number fell to the lowest so far, 107. Since then, the state animal has shown an incredible resilience as their numbers doubled and reached 218 in 2011. MA Tak, Regional Wildlife Warden, Kashmir, said there was further “improvement” in the number of hangul as per the 2013 Census, which would be released soon. Hanguls have now remained confined to the safe environs of the Dachigam National Park. The largest mountain goat of the world, markhor, is also facing an extreme high risk of extinction. The IUCN has marked markhor as critically endangered. It is commonly sighted in Limber, Lachipora and Hirpora Sanctuaries of the Kashmir region. Chiru is the third wildlife species of the region which has been marked as critically endangered by the IUCN. The antelope is distributed along the Tibetan plateau and a migratory population visits Ladakh during the summers. Chiru is sighted in the Daulat Beg Oldie area and in Chang Chen Mo Valley in Ladakh. A member of deer family, musk deer is marked as endangered species by the IUCN. It is commonly seen in the Aru and Limber Sanctuaries in the Kashmir region and at the Kishtwar National Park in the Jammu region. Marked as endangered, ibex is a dark-brown goat with dull white saddle patch. It is frequently sighted in the Hemis and Kishtwar National Parks and at the Kanji Wildlife Sanctuary. A copper-brown mountain goat, marked as endangered, lives in extremely inaccessible terrains. The Himalayan tahr is occasionally seen in the Kishtwar National Park in the Jammu region. The IUCN has marked Himalayan brown bear, the world’s largest terrestrial omnivore, as endangered. It is often seen in the Limber and Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuaries in the Kashmir region and at the Kishtwar National Park in Jammu. Also known as asiatic black bear, this large forest dwelling bear species has been categorised as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. It is generally seen in all of the Valley’s protected areas, particularly in the Dachigam National Park. The black bears are involved in many of the man-animal conflicts in the Kashmir region, which have spiked in recent years. Another wild animal which has been involved in the increased cases of man-animal conflict, the common leopards, which has been marked as endangered, are commonly seen in all the protected areas of the state. The IUCN has marked the snow leopard as endangered. The snow leopards are generally seen in the Hemis National Park in Ladakh. Ironically, the region’s only bird to be listed as critically endangered is also the state bird of Jammu and Kashmir, the black-necked crane. The black-necked crane is seen in the Tso-moriri lake area of the Ladakh region. Facing extinction The endangered species of the state include hangul, markhor, Tibetan antelope, musk deer, ibex, Himalayan brown and black bear, common leopard and black-necked crane. The critically endangered hangul, a sub-species of European red deer, is the state animal of J&K and is marked as critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature The region’s only bird to be listed as critically endangered is also the state bird of J&K, the black-necked crane. It is seen in the Tso-moriri lake area of the Ladakh region. By The Tribune.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 03:14:01 +0000
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