Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Mar 03: In a very positive sign, a herd of around 60 Hangul were sighted at the Dachigam National park in Srinagar recently which officials termed as a very encouraging sign.
Rashid Naqash Wildlife Warden Kashmir while talking with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that Hanjul is found only in Kashmir in the whole world and their number is around 260 to 265 only.
He said that to preserve them is very important and of utmost priority and in this scenario seeing a large herd of around 60 to 65 Hangul is an encouraging sign.
“Hangul is a long raging animal which need long landscapes for movement from one place to another. Fragmentation of habitat leaves them confined to small area and become prone to diseases like inbreeding and die and finding a big herd in such scenario is an encouraging sign,” he said.
Naqash had uploaded a few videos on his twitter which shows a big group of Hanguls in Dachigam national park which is covered with snow.
“When I see Hangul herd like this in Dachigam, the future seems bright!,” he tweeted.
The population of the critically endangered species has registered a marginal increase in the Kashmir Valley in past few years. It was 261 in March 2021 as compared to 237 recorded in 2019. The small upward trend began in 2015, when the Hangul population was 186 and then rose to 197 in 2017.
In 2020, a herd of six to eight Hangul had been sighted in Naranag forest area of Wangath in Kangan in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and in same year Wildlife Department has captured 10 majestic Hanguls in camera in Shikargah wildlife sanctuary of Tral area of south Kashmir.
The hangul continues to remain the state animal of Kashmir and there is some evidence that the animal returning to its earlier habitats. In 2020, a wild herd of around six to eight deer was reported to have been sighted in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, officials said.
In the 1900s, around 3,000 to 5,000 hangul could be found in Kashmir, from Karen in the Kishenganga catchments to Dorusa in Lolab Valley, and the catchments in Bandipora, Tulail, Baltal, Aru, Tral and Kishtwar. Incessant hunting resulted in a decline in their numbers. This led the then Maharaja of Kashmir to create game reserves such as Dachigam where locals were restricted from hunting—(KNO)
