Srinagar, Mar 16: A Kashmir stag (Hangul) has been killed by a leopard in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district during intervening night, officials said on Wednesday.
An official told news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that a Hangul was found dead on Wednesday morning in Shikargah area of Tral which had been killed by a leopard.
The officials said the watch and ward staff posted for protection of the endangered species of deer were not present at the time of the attack.
The animal died after the attack and the leopard had fled from the spot.
“The body of Hangul is in the custody of WildLife and higher ups will make a decision about what to do with the body of female Hangul,” an official from the wildlife department told KDC.
He said that the killing of Hangul has made it clear that there is presence of endangered Hanguls in Shikargah forests of Tral.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red Data Book — which contains lists of species at risk of extinction — has declared the Hangul as one of three species that were critically endangered in Jammu and Kashmir.
To emphasise the importance of the conservation of the Hangul, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir had declared it as the state animal. (KDC)
