Kashmir: Why the Hangul’s future still hangs in the balance?

Why in news?
  • A massive decline in the population of Kashmir’s iconic wildlife species, the Hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu), also known as the Kashmir stag, continues to be a big concern.
More in news
  • Kashmir Stag (Hangul):
    (1) Hangul, the state animal of Jammu & Kashmir, is restricted to the Dachigam National Park some 15 km north-west of Jammu & Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar.
    (2) Placed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the J&K Wildlife Protection Act, 1978.
    (3) The IUCN’s Red List has classified it as Critically Endangered.
    (4) Listed under the Species Recovery Programme of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Environmental Information System (ENVIS) of the MoEFCC.
  • Importance to J&K:
    (1) The Hangul is considered equally significant to the state of Jammu & Kashmir as the tiger is to the whole of India.
    (2) It is the only Asiatic survivor or sub-species of the European red deer.
    (3) According to the latest survey in 2017, the population of Hangul is 182 in Dachigam.
    (4) The IUCN Red Data Book has declared the Hangul as one of three species that were critically endangered in J&K.
Posted by Jawwad Kazi on 2nd May 2019
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