KASHMIRI RED STAG

The Kashmir stag (Cervus canadensis hanglu), also called hangul, is a subspecies of elk native to Kashmir. It is found in dense riverine forests in the high valleys and mountains of the Kashmir Valley and northern Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. In Kashmir, it is found in the Dachigam National Park where it receives protection but elsewhere it is more at risk. In the 1940s, the population was between 3000 and 5000 individuals, but since then habitat destruction, over-grazing by domestic livestock and poaching have reduced population dramatically. Earlier believed to be a subspecies of red deer (Cervus elaphus), a number of mitochondrial DNA genetic studies have revealed that the hangul is part of the Asian clade of the elk (Cervus canadensis).^[2][3][4][5] The IUCN, however, includes it in the new grouping of Central Asian red deer (Cervus hanglu), with the Kashmir stag being the type subspecies (Cervus hanglu hanglu). According to the census in 2019, there were only 237 Hanguls.^[6]

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) would be declaring the Kashmiri Red Stag or Hangul as a 'critically endangered species'. Hangul has been hunted over centuries and its habitat destroyed, leading to its wild population shrinking to 150. The IUCN had earlier categorised it as of 'Least Concern' by clubbing it with European and other 'red deer' species.