Mir Mudasir
Some 15 kilometers away in Dachigham National park located inside the dense forests, the census for the endangered Hangul is underway.
The four-day counting exercise began early this month with more than two hundred wildlife experts part of this census tracing the marks of the royal stag in the identified tracks used by the herds of hanguls.
The last viable population of Hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu) in the Indian sub-continent exists only in the protected Dachigam National Park, a vast mountainous 141 sq km sanctuary on the outskirts of Srinagar, where Hangul grazed in hordes before the start of militancy in 1989.
Lately, there have been a few sightings in connected areas outside the park in south Kashmir but their number is believed to be negligible. Many believe that the number of the hangul has declined over the years.
Earlier the hangul was placed in the ‘critically endangered’ category by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is the only survivor of the red deer group in the Indian sub-continent. In 2019, the population of the animal had slightly improved to 237 from 214 in 2017.
This time too wildlife experts are praying that number should go up because it’s the most endangered species.
The hangul in the past had been killed for its meat, antlers and skin, the population dropped below 200 in the early 1990s from 800-900. In the beginning of last century the population was in thousands.
The hanngul is considered as the shyest animal and prefers to stay in deep forests, even apart from Dachigam it was found in other parts of Kashmir.
In 2016, a report by a team of environmentalists and wildlife experts, named armed conflict, large-scale interferences to its habitats in the form of excessive grazing by livestock of nomads in the Hangul’s erstwhile summer habitats, grass cutting, fuel and firewood collection, human trampling owing to vehicles of hundreds of paramilitary forces camped inside the park and employees of more than seven government departments, as some of the reasons.
Of late wildlife department has taken various measures to help the endangered species, however still there are many shortcomings that need to be addressed.
The wildlife experts are hopeful that things are slowly improving and very soon the number of hangul will cross 500 mark, which is going to be the first victory. In fact the wildlife department is also trying to introduce hangul in some parts of south Kashmir and if successful then the number can further go up in coming years.
