State government last month announced that people would be allowed to visit Dachigam National Park, a mountainous sanctuary located along the foothills of majestic Zabarwan range on the outskirts of Srinagar, the state’s summer capital. It has even fixed Rs 125 as entry fee for the intending visitors. Inside the park the people would be asked to board the cabs kept for taking the visitors around the park.

The major attraction in the park once was Hangul (Kashmiri stag) as herds of them used to graze inside the area. Decades ago the number was in thousands.

This year the census carried out by state Wildlife department and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun in Kashmir to ascertain actual number of Kashmiri stag or Hangul has revealed their decline in population by a third in the last four years.

Hangul is the only surviving race of the Red Deer family of Europe in the sub-continent and is counted among one of the world’s most endangered species.

The fall in the number is attributed to the increasing interference in their habitations. Experts blame the threat of poaching, excessive livestock grazing, predation, and frequent forest fires as the reason for the sharp decline.

Nowadays, the poor animal is struggling for existence in its last bastion- a restricted area of 141 sq km inside Dachigam National Park.

Survey has found the numbers of the majestic looking deer with a brownish coat and antlers have fallen from 228 to 160 in just four years.

So in backdrop of this steep decline, allowing further interference by officials is totally unjustified. Instead of this serious efforts should have been underway to overcome this precarious situation and save this endangered red deer from extinction.

Tail Piece

Perhaps there are plans to convert the sanctuary into a picnic spot. Planners might have thought that in view of declining deer population inside park, why not open it for the recreation purpose far away from the maddening crowd of city.

May be the sanctuary gets popularity for the cabs now in wake of decline in Hanguls.