As per the 2009 official census the Hangul population has been estimated at 175 individuals. The census of 2004 estimated the population at 197 while in 2008 it had reduced to 127. The census was carried out in Zabarwan and adjoining forest ranges by the Department of Wildlife, Wildlife Trust of India and Wildlife SOS.

The Central Wildlife Warden, Rashid Naqash, stressed the importance of the the male, female and fawn ratio. The 2009 census indicated that for every 100 females, there are 27 males and 28 fawns as compared to 23 and 9 in the last census.

A word of appreciation for Arif Shafi Wani, who regularly highlights ecological and wildlife issues in Greater Kashmir. His efforts along with a handful of other concerned citizens may yet save the Hangul. More power to your pen, brother.


News Links:

Rare Kashmir deer makes comeback

Silver Lining For Endangered Hangul

Hangul not to hang from fine thread




Image copyright Dr. Bakshi Jehangir

Today a newspaper carried a front page story about the first-ever sighting of a rare duck in Kashmir. It quoted the "Chief Wet Life Warden" - probably the Wildlife Warden for Wetlands - claiming that the Common Shelduck was spotted for the first time ever in Kashmir this year. Funnily enough, these claims have been made before - the Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) regularly features in lists of migratory birds visiting Kashmir - for example this Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands compiled by World Wide Fund for Nature- India and Department of Wildlife Protection, Government of J & K or this official news report from 2000. The Common Shelduck is classified as "species of least concern" by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Another news article while quoting the same official repeats these claims about the Common Shelduck and also the Gadwall, which even the first article lists as a common migratory species! This article reports that these "first-ever" sightings were "confirmed by Dr. Asad Rahmani, noted ornithologist and Director Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), who visited Hokersar recently" . The wildlife staff at Hokersar pointed out a flock of Common Shelducks when I visited last winter but I cannot be sure of the ID as there were thousands of ducks flying around. Gadwalls, though, are a common enough visiting species.

Our worthy senior wildlife official further claimed that the Pheasant-tailed Jacana had not been observed in Kashmir since 1980 when in fact it breeds in the valley and I regularly observe these birds on the Dal Lake in summer!

I hope the encouragingly increasing numbers of migratory birds visiting our wetlands are calculated by scientific methods of observation and are not cooked up like duck egg omelettes :-)



News Links:

Common Shell Duck spotted first time in Kashmir

Migratory Birds Making a Beeline for Kashmir

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Happy New Year.

Let us start off this year on an optimistic note. If you have been following the fatal spiral of large predators into extinction due to the Man-Animal Conflict, there is some good news with a scientific program based on radio-collar and GPS tracking of black bears being initiated in Kashmir. One wonders what became of the equally hyped radio-collar Hangul tracking program launched earlier.

News Link:
Government wakes up to man-animal conflict

The future of the splendid Kashmir Markhor [Capra falconeri cashmiriensis] may also be more secure with central funds being released directly to the state for the conservation of its habitat. Let us be thankful too that official permission to hunt an endangered species is not obtainable in Kashmir. Unfortunately, as the next news item reports, you can buy a permit to shoot the "National Animal" elsewhere.

News Links:
Conservation plans for bearded goat in J&K
Norwegian pays $81,200 for Markhor hunting in Pakistan



More information about the Markhor is available here:
Markhor Wikipedia Entry



Image Courtesy : Wikipedia Commons

I was recently asked whether I was a conservationist or an environmentalist. I must confess that I had not given much thought to the difference between the two. I have since sought to enlighten myself and want to share some thoughts with my readers. Apparently conservationists believe in scientifically managed use of natural resources while environmentalists maintain that "nature knows best" and our remaining wildernesses should be left unmanaged for anything except primitive recreation. They believe human intervention is generally harmful to natural resources.

As for myself, I have somewhat of a split personality while it comes to managing our natural resources. At heart I am a hard-core environmentalist. For example, I am appalled at plans to convert the Bangus Valley into a major tourist resort. I have trekked through Bangus in the eighties and the thought that this wild paradise will soon be commercialised into a circus like Pahalgam torments my soul. I hope that a saner voice will call for preservation and the 'powers-that-be' shall listen. However my optimism is tempered with a strong streak of realism. Political opportunism - combined with the fact that economic backwardness forces people in rural areas to jump on to the tourism bandwagon - means that areas like the Bangus Valley are doomed to progress. Kashmir is a small valley with an exponentially increasing population and the pressure on our natural resources like land and water is immense. Even the most die-hard optimist will concede that commercialisation is inevitable, so the logical next step is to ensure at least that that it is managed properly. That is the conservationist point of view - to which I am a reluctant subscriber.

I am busy building a new home for my family. 100% of the wood is being recycled from my old home which had to be dismantled due to weathering compounded by the devastating earthquake that struck Kashmir in 2005. All the bricks and most of the stone that will be used will also be sourced from the dismantled structure. This will significantly reduce the impact our new home would otherwise have had on the environment. No trees will be cut down, no fossil fuels burnt in kilns, and no rocks or earth will be excavated on our account. I will sleep a little better as a consequence.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case with the booming construction business in the valley. People are obsessively buying land and building colonies wherever they can. A little greasing of the right palms and you can build a condo even on a world heritage site. The greatest impact has been on our forests which are being mercilessly massacred with the active connivance, nay, partnership of the concerned official departments. Officially, wood imported all the way from South America is much cheaper to buy than local timber but a strong timber mafia with strong political connections is plundering our forests and selling the green trees almost for free. I have clicked the accompanying pictures from main roads enroute to popular tourist destinations. One can only imagine what must be the condition of forests in the interiors.

News Link:
A Tree For A Meal





As I was writing this post, Muddasir Ali of Greater Kashmir exposed the illegal felling of trees in Dachigam, which is a heavily guarded National Wildlife Sanctuary. It is home to the last viable population of the Hangul or Kashmir Stag. I wonder if the mafia responsible for illegal felling of trees are somehow connected to the dwindling numbers of Hangul. Anyway, if active poaching does not kill off the Hangul, loss of habitat certainly will. Is anybody listening?



News Link:
Dachigam Vandalized As Wildlife Deptt Sleeps

Images copyright Dr. Bakshi Jehangir