http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/interface/feed.png http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php Copyright 2010, Dr. Bakshi Jehangir bakshijehangir@gmail.com (Dr. Bakshi Jehangir) en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.4i http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry091227-154755 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

]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry091227-154755 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:47:55 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091227-154755 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry091227-071858 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


]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry091227-071858 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Sun, 27 Dec 2009 07:18:58 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091227-071858 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry091103-141243 Yawar Ali of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens and Majid Farooq, RS-GIS expert. Click the thumbnails to download the maps.









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

]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry091103-141243 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:12:43 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091103-141243 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry091003-035406 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

]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry091003-035406 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:54:06 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=10&entry=entry091003-035406 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry090919-121543 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?


]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry090919-121543 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:15:43 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=09&entry=entry090919-121543 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry090609-134226
Earlier this week I observed and photographed a Rosy Starling in the Zabarvan foothills. It is quite a rare sighting since the Rosy Starling is classified as a "not common passage migrant" in Kashmir on the basis of individual records.


In March 2007, I photographed this Chaffinch on the banks of the Dal Lake. It is the first time ever that this species has been reported from Kashmir.


Unlike its cousins, the Plumbeous and White-capped Redstarts, which are quite common near water, the Common Redstart has never been reported from Kashmir. I photographed this bird in May 2006 in a willow on the banks of the Jehlum at Shivpora. The photo caused a fair bit of interest and was studied by the foremost avifauna experts. However, due to the sub-optimal quality of the photograph, the verdict was inconclusive.


]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry090609-134226 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:42:26 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=06&entry=entry090609-134226 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry090524-024731
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]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry090524-024731 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Sun, 24 May 2009 02:47:31 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=05&entry=entry090524-024731 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry090123-225953

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.
]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry090123-225953 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:59:53 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=01&entry=entry090123-225953 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry090104-134408
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
]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry090104-134408 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:44:08 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=09&m=01&entry=entry090104-134408 http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/index.php?entry=entry081211-161020
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. ]]> http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/?entry=entry081211-161020 bakshijehangir@gmail.com Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:10:20 GMT http://www.kashmirnetwork.com/wildlife/news/comments.php?y=08&m=12&entry=entry081211-161020