The population of Kashmir Stag or 'Hangul', a highly endangered species found only in the Valley's Dachigam National Park, has increased substantially, a Wildlife department official has said.
"Although the Census figures for 2013 are awaited, the signs are good that there has been a substantial increase in the number of animals in Dachigam National Park, particularly Hangul," Wildlife Warden Nazir Ahmad Malik told PTI.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the estimated number of Hangul was around 5,000 with its habitat spread over Himalayan mounts covering Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
However, due to several reasons including poaching, habitat destruction and over-grazing by domestic livestock, the number dwindled to 150 in 1970.
Jammu and Kashmir Government in collaboration with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) prepared 'Project Hangul' for the protection and conservation of these animals, which resulted in increase in the population to 340 by 1980.
However, onset of militancy dealt a blow to conservation efforts and numbers again fell to just 160 in 2008.
Renewed efforts post-2008, the number of Hangul in Dachigam rose to 219 in 2011 and is expected to have risen further in 2013.
The Wildlife officials get a chance to conduct a census of over 200 different species of animals in the Dachigam National Park during winter months as snowfall forces these to climb down toward the plains in search of food and water.
