Declining Hangul Population

• 20 Jul 2019

The Hangul (or Kashmiri Stag) population monitoring exercise has revealed an alarming decline in the fawn-hind and stag-hind ratio of the hangul population in Kashmir.

• Exercise was conducted by the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu & Kashmir (DWLP) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
• Fawn is a young deer in its first year and Hind is a female deer, over three years old and her counterpart, the mature male, is called a stag.
• The male-female and fawn-female ratios, is crucial for the management and conservation of deer populations.
• Although hangul is limited to the Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary near Srinagar, but a small population has also been witnessed in Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary in south Kashmir.
• The Kashmir stag is the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir and is the only surviving species of red deer in India.

Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary

• Dachigam (stands for ‘ten villages’) National Park is located about 22 Kilometers from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
• Fauna: The main animal species that Dachigam is most famous for is the hangul, or the Kashmir stag.
• Flora: floral wealth of the park is extremely diverse and a significant part of its ecosystem and includes walnut, apricot, apple, pear, and wild cherry, plum, chestnut, willow, oak and birch trees.