Inside Dachigam On World Wildlife Day: A Photo Feature

A leopard walks in its enclosure in Dachigam National Park in Srinagar’s outskirts on March 03, observed as World Wildlife Day

A herd of deer, known locally as Hangul, grazing on a hillock at the Dachigam National Park . Today, the Hangul, the state animal of Jammu & Kashmir, is restricted to the 141 square kilometres of Dachigam National Park, although some studies suggest that small isolated Hangul groups of five to ten have been reported from Shikargah-Tral and the Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary in south Kashmir.

Deer is considered to be an endangered animal. A massive decline in the population of Kashmir’s iconic wildlife species, the Hangul, continues to be a big concern as conservation efforts for the deer, going on for years, have not yielded any significant results so far.