Click to play videoDachigam (J&K): The Kashmiri hangul or red deer also known as Stag is almost extinct as their population has gone down from 5, 000 in the 1940’s to 150 today.
And they are a rare sight even at the Dachigam National Park, their last refuge.
Experts from the state wildlife department and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are worried.
“We are worried about the recruitment levels. There were just two to three fawns per 100 females this year. There were 23 fawns per 100 females in 2004,” says Wildlife Warden, Central Division, Rashid Naqash.
A census conducted by the WII around Dachigam National Park, the only habitat of the Kashmir Stag in the state, pegged the number between 115 and 160. In 1988, their population was 900.
Authorities say tourist huts, sheep and trout farms and the presence of security men in the habitat are responsible for the dwindling numbers.
“There are many biotic interferences in the upper reaches which have affected their population,” says Naqash.
The state government plans to use Global Positioning System (GPO) radio collars to track the hangul.
A WII team of experts was at Dachigam last month top check whether this would be feasible.
The dwindling number of Hangul is evident, and last month experts from the WII used radio collars to track them, but could not detect any movement.
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