The future of the splendid Kashmir Markhor [Capra falconeri cashmiriensis] hangs in the balance after the Supreme Court, following recommendations of the National Wild Life Board (NWLB), allowed construction of the Mughal Road through the Hirpur Wild Life Sanctuary in the Pir-Panjal. Spread over an area of nearly 195 sq kms, the Hirpur Wildlife sanctuary is the habitat of the Markhor, which is listed as 'critically endangered' as per the IUCN Red List. In India, it is included in the Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and Kashmir Wildlife (Protection) Act 1978. This 86.9 kms Mughal Road from Bafliaz (Poonch) to Shopian (Kashmir) will divide the sanctuary into two parts. Hirpur is not an isolated example. Natural habitats across the globe are being disturbed by relentless urban expansion. Roads, highways and railway tracks cut off many animals from their feeding and breeding areas, as well as from escape and migratory routes.

However, the Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, Mian Altaf announced that his Ministry has received compensation worth Rs 17 crore in the form of Markhore recovery project for habitat restoration, fencing of the Sanctuary, soil conservation, pasture and fodder development and growing fruit bearing plants. Kazi Nag Wildlife Sanctuary in Uri where this species is also found has been included in the project. It has also been proposed to add nearly 150 sq km to the sanctuary.

I am dismayed that there was no mention of connecting the two parts of the sanctuary even though premier wildlife organisations active in the country are involved in the project. According to the news report, the National Wild Life Board and the J&K Wildlife department will be supervising the project in consultation with the construction agencies PWD/JKPCC/HCC engaged in the Markhor Recovery Project.

I would like to suggest that wildlife bridges may be constructed to connect the two parts of the Hirpur Wildlife sanctuary. These Wildlife bridges (aka Green Bridges) allow animal territories to be maintained, rather than being divided into smaller, more isolated areas that ultimately lead to less viable populations.



In the 1950's, France was the first European country to develop green bridges for wildlife. Currently it has hundreds of structures for wildlife passage including viaducts, bridges, pipe conduits, overpasses and underpasses. Similar structures have also been built in other European countries like Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia.

Central Europe's biggest conservation project intends to set aside 20,000 kilometers (12,430 miles) of forested or shrub-covered green corridors that would connect various national parks throughout Germany . According to their concept, wild animals passing through these green eco-tunnels would expand from their current habitats and settle new ones. The planners came to realise that Autobahns [highways], major roads and canals block the paths of wild animals, residential and commercial areas seal off forests and meadows, and farmland chops up habitats into tiny islands too small for many animals to raise their young, hide or hunt. According to Germany's Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) this "dissection of the landscape," has become one of the most significant and consistently effective causes of the endangerment of biological diversity in Central Europe.

Several similar projects have also been implemented throughout the world including the United States and Australia. An international design competition was organised to design and build a landmark wildlife bridge in Vail USA. Since Vail in Colorado is a world-famous ski resort, the terrain resembles that of the Pir Panjal somewhat. The winning design should interest our wildlife planners. A must-see documentary would be 'Prince of the Alps', about red deer in the Austrian Alps. Red deer are the European cousins of the Hangul. The show focuses on the network of green bridges and wildlife corridors that have been built above or beneath roadways to facilitate safe wildlife movement across them.

Wildlife bridges have successfully been used in third-world countries like Costa Rica. Wildlife bridges on the Mughal Road may be a necessity rather than a luxury, if the noble Markhor is to be saved. The knowledge gained from these pilot projects can be utilised to build similar projects over/under the National Highway, the railway tracks and the river Jehlum which has historically divided wildlife populations between its east and west banks. This would connect isolated populations of wildlife and give them the chance to intermingle and strengthen their gene pool. Even as Central Europe's biggest conservation project intends to build wildlife corridors to connect Germany's major national parks, we should consider ourselves lucky if we can save our Hangul and Markhor populations from extinction.

News Link:
Wild Life gets Rs 17 cr for 'Markhore' protection

Image Courtesy:
The Happy Pontist

Constant harping on the Man-Animal Conflict has literally landed a leopard on my doorstep. I live on the banks of the Jehlum in the Shivpora locality of Srinagar, the largest city of Kashmir. The Jehlum makes an almost complete loop around it and only a small strip of land connects Shivpora to the adjoining foothills of the Zabarvan Range. This strip is traversed by the the NH1, the main highway that runs through the Kashmir valley. The whole area is a high-security zone surrounded by high walls, barricades and barbed wire. Somehow a leopard has managed to overcome the obstacles presented by the barricades, the highway and the river to reach Shivpora.



The local residents experience of predatory animals has been limited so far to the occasional glimpse of a mongoose or the nocturnal howling of the jackals that inhabit the Dhar Bagh-Shaheen Bagh complex [X] where the leopard is believed to have taken up residence. This area has no roads or houses but orchards, thorn bushes, marshland and extensive patches of woodland along the river-bank provide perfect cover for the leopard in an area measuring arond 500 kanals. [approx 60 acres] Mass hysteria is developing among the residents of Shivpora, maybe with good reason. As per the Wikipedia article leopards can subsist on small prey and are less dependent on large prey and are less likely to turn to man-eating than either lions or tigers. However, leopards might be attracted to human settlements by livestock or pets, especially dogs, and they may resort to the eating of humans should conditions demand it, and no other food is available.

The most secretive and elusive of the large carnivores, the leopard is also the most cunning. It is the strongest climber of the large cats and capable of killing prey larger than itself. Its success as a ruthless hunter owes is due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, and its non-specialised diet. A leopard will eat any creature it can hunt down and catch - from small beetles to large cattle. Local lore relates a marked preference to kill and eat dogs - which is why the linked news article mentions a half-eaten dog carcass as proof of the presence of a leopard.

I hope the wildlife authorities capture and relocate the leopard before any infortunate incident provides us with one more statistic in the Man-Animal Conflict.

News Link:
Leopard 'infiltrates' into high security Shivpora

Wikipedia Article:
The Leopard

Wild Kashmir brings you freely downloadable maps of Dachigam National Park and other protected forest areas courtesy of Yawar Ali of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens and Majid Farooq, RS-GIS expert. Click the thumbnails to download the maps.










Yawar Ali and Majid Farooq at the International Conference on Hangul Conservation 2009


In other news, the man-animal conflict in Kashmir is slowly but surely developing into an imminent catastrophe. Here is an update:
Man-Animal Conflict in Kashmir

Yawar Ali Masoodi is a young lawyer deeply commited to environmental issues in Kashmir. He has compiled a list of serious environmental threats that he feels need to be addressed immediately :

1. Limestone Mining/ Pollution from cement production in Greater Dachigam [Khrew, Khanmoh etc.]
2. Gypsum Mining in Choolan, Dara, Gawashir, Jabadar, Niloosa, Bhagna and Bimyar at Uri [Limber Wildlife Sanctuary]
3. Sheep Breeding Farm at Dachigam and Daksum
4. Unplanned Tourism activities in Aru Wildlife Sanctuary
5. Unplanned Tourism activities in Baltal-Thajwas Wildlife Sanctuary
6. Unplanned Tourism activities in Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary
7. Encroachment of wetlands in particular Narkara And Hokersar

Meanwhile top officials confirm that little progress is being made even on well-publicised environmental issues:

Human intervention threatens Kashmiri Hangul

Govt, industries encroach upon forests

The beautification drive launched by the government along the banks of the Jehlum river has the makings of another eco-disaster. This drive was meant to provide a much needed facelift to the river as it flowed through the city. There is no doubt that the river presents a much more attractive picture in the civil lines area but like most quick-fixes this beauty may come at a high price. Dozens of chinars in the ambit of the beautification drive are dying. Nobody seems to have told the powers-that-be that river banks form an extensive eco-system in themselves with unique plant and animal populations. Aquatic birds like waders and kingfishers thrive here, as do dragonflies and a wide variety of aquatic plants. The chinars around the Kashmir Arts Emporium and Radio Kashmir complexes are home to the largest surviving heronry in Srinagar. Otters are probably already extinct in kashmir, as readers may remember from an earlier post.

You cannot just dig up all the banks and cut down all the trees and replace them with walls of stone and cultivated grass. But that is exactly what is happening. Such environmental disasters due to lack of foresight have occurred earlier, most notably when the conversion of the Mar canal to a metalled road choked Srinagar's main water-bodies, and when the diversion of the Doodh Ganga river into the Hokersar Game Reserve condemned it to a slow death by siltation.

I have a suggestion - a green belt of chinars, willows and similar trees along the embankments, along with creation of some sandbanks and reed-beds can provide the necessary habitat for aquatic wildlife. In other other states projects are assessed for environment impact assessment. Since I am not an expert we need specialists in this field to get involved in increasing the eco-friendliness of the Jehlum River Project. Any takers?