The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is going to declare the Kashmiri Red Stag (also known as Hangul) as a Critically Endangered species.
The critically endangered status to the Kashmiri Red Stag will help it to get more protection and enhance the conservation efforts to increase its rapidly declining population.
About Kashmiri Red Stag
The Kashmir Stag or Hangul is a subspecies of elk native to India. Earlier it was believed that it is a subspecies of red deer.
But mitochondrial DNA genetic studies have revealed that it is part of the Asian clade of elk.
It is found in dense riverine forests in the high valleys and mountains of Kashmir Valley and northern Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh.
As per Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) nearly 3000 to 5000 Hanguls existed around the 1940s.
But at present, only about 150 of them survive within its last bastion in Dachigam National Park located on foothills of Zabarwan range on the outskirts of Srinagar, J&K.
Protection status: It has been listed under Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and J&K Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978. It also has been listed among the top 15 species of high conservation priority by the Central Government.
Reasons for decline in population: (i) habitat destruction, (ii) over-grazing by domestic livestock, and (iii) poaching.
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