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Home / IAS Preparation / Project Hangul

Project Hangul- Ecology, Population, Threats and Conservation of Hanguls, Way Forward for UPSC!

Last Updated on Dec 10, 2023
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The Satellite collaring on Kashmir red stag highlights that the critically endangered animal is not using its summer habitats. It is happening because of anthropogenic pressure. The Gene flow of Kashmir red stag is essential for their growth. The study recommended urgent measures to expand the range of Kashmir red stag to alpine meadows and develop corridors outside the Dachigam National Park.

Project Hangul is a relevant topic for the UPSC Exam. The question can be asked from Project Hanguls from the Environment and Biodiversity section in the GS-III paper. 

In this topic, we will learn about the Hangul animal, the Ecology and habitat of Hangul deer, threats, and conservation programs for Hangul. The UPSC aspirants can take the help of Testbook UPSC CSE Coaching to give an extra edge to their preparation. 

What is Project Hangul?
  • Project Hangul was started in 1970 by the Kashmir government with the help of WWF.
  • The project was later renamed “Save Kashmir’s Red Deer Hangul” in 2009.
  • The Kashmir red stag is known as a hangul animal. 
  • It is native to northern India. 
  • The hangul deer is found in Dachigam National Park And surrounding areas situated at elevations of 3,035 meters. 
  • At the beginning of the 20th century, their number was about 5000 hangul deer.
  • The hangul deer was in danger due to habitat destruction, overgrazing by domestic livestock, and poaching. This resulted in their dwindling numbers (150 by 1970).
  • For the protection of the Kashmir red stag, The former state of Jammu Kashmir, along with the IUCN and the WWF, started a project to protect hangul animals. It later came to be known as Project Hangul.
  • The project bore positive results and increased their population to over 340 by 1980.

Click on the link to download the notes on the National Board for Wildlife for UPSC!

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About Hangul 
  • The Hangul animal is a subspecies of Central Asian red deer.
  • The Hangul animal is an endemic animal to Kashmir and the surrounding regions of the Himalayas. 
  • Due to the endemism of the Hangul animal, it is famously called the Kashmir red stag. 
  • The scientific name of the Hangul animal is Cervus Hanglu Hangul.
  • The Hangul animal is declared a state animal of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and the current union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Alferd Wagner was the first researcher to identify the Hangul animal in 1844.
  • The Kashmir red stag species is believed to have arrived from Bukhara in Central Asia to Kashmir. 
  • The hangul animal got its name from its preferred food, which is the Indian horse chestnut (locally known as ‘Han Doon’ ). 
  • The Kashmir red stag is a herbivore animal. The hangul animal eats a wide variety of grass, herbs, shrubs, and foliage. 
  • The Kashmir red stag community is matriarchal in Nature.
  • The male Hangul animal has 11 to 16-point antlers.
  • The Hangul deer is the only surviving species of Asiatic red deer.
  • The Hangul deer was considered a subspecies of red deer (Cervus elaphus). Later multiple genetic studies of mitochondrial DNA concluded that the Hangul deer is a subspecies of the Asian clade of the elk (Cervus canadensis ).
  • However, The American Society of Mammalogists and IUCN classify the Hangul deer in the new group of Central Asian red deer (Cervus hanglu). They called the Kashmir red stag its subspecies, Cervus hanglu hanglu.

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Scientific Classification 

Basis 

Category 

KINGDOM

Animalia

PHYLUM

Chordata

SUBPHYLUM

Vertebrata

CLASS

Mammalia

ORDER

Artiodactyla

SUBORDER

Ruminantia

FAMILY

Cervidae

SUBFAMILY

Cervinae

GENUS

Cervus

SPECIES

Cervus canadensis hanglu

Ecology and Habitat of Hangul 
  • The Kashmir red stag lives in groups. The group's size can be two to 18 individuals.
  • The habitat of Hangul deer is dense riverine forests, high valleys, and mountains of the Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir and northern Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. 
  • Within Kashmir, most of the population lives inside the Dachigam National Park, Rajparian Wildlife Sanctuary, Overa Aru, Sind Valley, and in the forests of Kishtwar & Bhaderwah.
  • The hangul animal is herbivore. Shrubs, grass, and tree shoots are part of its diet.
  • The hangul deer spend summers in alpine meadows and winters in valleys. 

Source- Research Gate

Population of Hangul 
  • The number of Hanguls in India is calculated by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir every two years. 
  • The biennial census of Hangul was begun in 2004 by the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department. 
  • It uses scientific methods to find the population of Hangul. 
  • There were more than 5000 Hanguls present in the area before independence. 
  • The population of Hanguls witnessed a drastic decline in later years. 
  • The 2021 Hangul census counted 261 Hanguls in India. 
  • The table below shows Hangul Population in different censuses.

Census Year 

Population 

2004

197

2006

153 

2008

127 

2009

175 

2011

218 

2015

186 

2017 

214 

2019 

237 

2021

263 
  • The latest census shows the gradual increase in the population of Hangul in India.
  • The sex ratio in the latest census is 126 numbers of hangul females in 100 Hangul. It is a decline compared to the 2019 census, which counted 153 females for 100 males. 
  • An increasing trend is also seen in the number of fawns per 100 females. The fawns increased to 13.4 in 2021 from 9 in 2019. 
  • Although the ratio is lower than the ideal ratio, ideally sex ratio should have been 40-50 males/100 females, and the fawn ratio should have been 60 fawns/100 females.

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Major Threats to Hangul

The population of Hanguls was between 3000-5000 before the independence of India. Later a drastic decline was seen in the population of Hanguls. The major threats are classified into two categories.

Anthropogenic Factors

  • Habitat fragmentation- Loss of habitat and degradation due to excessive livestock grazing in the alpine pastures such as upper Dachigam.
  • Predation- increased predation of Hanguls, especially fawns, by the dogs of security forces and the dogs of nomads
  • Poaching- Killing the stag for meat, skin, etc., for selling in the international market. 
  • Industries- Expert believes that the presence of cement factories is one of the main causes that impact the hangul habitat and population.
  • Urbanization- construction of living installations of the army causes habitat loss for Hanguls. 
  • Mass Tourism is also one of the leading causes of disruption of habitat and pasture degradation. 
  • Illegal Livestock Industries- Sheep farms cause the loss of pastures and breeding grounds for the Hanguls.
  • Hangul Trade- Handicrafts — one of the major industries of Jammu and Kashmir derives its chief raw materials from animal products which is a primary cause of exploitation of animals through large-scale hunting and poaching. Those associated with the dealing of deer products killed the deer mercilessly and brutally just to fulfill their greedy needs leaving just a few for his future generation. The deer are hunted for their meat, fur/skin/hide, and antlers. The head with antlers is used as a trophy for decoration, and the legs are used as candle sticks. Some Asian medicines use antlers, velvet, tails and testicles, and teeth for jewelry. These different products obtained from deer are sold at very handsome rates.

Ecological Factors

  • low breeding
  • A female-biased sex ratio- There are more females than males. The sex ratio stands at 23 males to every 100 females.
  • The low recruitment rate of fawns to adults- the fawn-to-female ratio of 30:100 is unsustainable for the hangul population. 
  • Low calf survival- due to poaching, predation, disease, harsh weather conditions, etc.
  • Predation- excessive predation of fawns by the Common Leopard, the Himalayan Black Bear.
  • Hangul Population studies indicate a decrease in genetic heterozygosity over time, and thus there is a need for urgent measures to arrest the loss in the heterozygous and declining trend of the Hangul population.

Click on the link to download the notes on the Conservation of Biodiversity for UPSC!

About Hangul Conservation 
  • The Kashmir red stag is kept under the protection of Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, along with the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Act, 1978.
  • The animal is also listed under Appendix - I in the CITES due to its restricted range distribution, current low population size, and great conservation concern.

Reasons for the limited success of Project Hangul

Many factors are responsible for the failure of this project.

  • Lack of participation from the local communities like Gujjars, Nambardars, Bakarwals, Patwaris, and Chowkidars.
  • The project's focus was limited to Dachigam National Park and surrounding ranges.
  • Establishment of Cement factories near the habitat of Hangul deer.
  • The limestone is extracted from the region in an unscientific manner. The mines have become a death trap for the Kashmir red stag.
  • The emergence of militancy followed by the security force actions also negatively impacted the conservation efforts.

Other Hangul Conservation Actions 
  • Removal of a 66-hectare sheep farm. The farm was in the lower part of the Dachigam National Park,
  • Ex-situ breeding- The breeding center and infrastructure was built over a five-acre forested area in south Kashmir’s Shikargah-Tral.
  • International collaboration- a collaboration among the SKUAST, Wildlife Institute of India, and the USA-based Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. They are working towards conservation breeding, conservation genetics, and community development of Kashmir stag.
  • The wildlife conservation fund was established in 2010. It has launched the Hangul Conservation Project (HCP). The program will work towards resolving the issues that are related to the Hangul species in Kashmir, particularly in the Dachigam National Park.
  • Creation of the Hangul corridors on the lines of tiger corridors. These corridors will allow the Hangul to reach grasslands and graze freely,
  • Spreading salt in the national park throughout the year and supplying fodder during the harsh winter. 

Way Forward 
  • Providing protection from the poaching of Hangul should be the highest priority in conservation efforts. 
  • Preserving the grazing grounds for the Kashmir red stag from the incursion of nomadic livestock herders. It will also reduce the threat of disease transmission and hunting of fawns by herding dogs.
  • Stop releasing the predatory animals in the region, such as Leopards and Asiatic Black Bears. It will reduce predation on Hangul fawns and increase their survival.
  • Expansion of the protected area for Hangul animals. Alongside claiming the protected area which herders have occupied.
  • Perform scientific study to Map, protect, and enrich forest areas of Hangul habitat.
  • Developing a comprehensive management plan to determine priority conservation and research activities. 
  • Upgrading the conservation reserves in the buffer zone creates a ‘mega preserve’ of Greater Dachigam.
  • Conservation breeding programs are the need of the hour. 
  • Reintroducing Hangiul in its earlier local habitats, such as Overa Wildlife Sanctuary and Shikargah Conservation Reserve, with adequate conservation measures.
  • A Hangul recovery plan should be developed. The plan should include field surveys to identify hangul corridors. It will help in the dispersion and reintroduction of Hangul to its former distribution range and habitat protection.
  • Improving the intensive population monitoring program and reproductive ecology studies to better understand the factors affecting the population growth, biology, low adult sex ratio, and low fawn-to-female ratios of the Hangul deer.

Criteria for Critically Endangered According to IUCN

A species is classified into the Critically Endangered category by IUCN if the population meets the following criteria. 

  • The decline in the population of species (more than 90% population over the last 10 years),
  • The size of the population- less than 50 mature individuals
  • quantitative analysis projecting the probability of extinction in the wild by at least 50% in 10 years

Conclusion

The Hangul deer population monitoring program has revealed an alarming decline in the fawn-hind and stag-hind ratios of the hangul population in Kashmir that require urgent attention from authorities. The Kashmir red stag is one of the three critically endangered species in the Jammu and Kashmir region. 

The conservation and stabilization of the Hangul population are imperative for their survival.

The best foot forward is the reintroduction of the hangul population to new habitats, minimizing the effect of conflict on their population, strong protection measures, and vigilance against poaching.

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Project Hangul FAQs

The Jammu and Kashmir government started Project Hangul with the help of the World Wildlife Fund to save Hangul (Cervus elaphus hanglu) in 1970.

According to the Hangu census of 2021, the hangul deer population in India stands at 263 individuals.

The hangul deer has a critically endangered IUCN status in India.

The Hangul animal has been protected under two laws in India. The Hangul deer is protected under Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the J&K Wildlife Protection Act, 1978.

The hangul deer are found in the mountains of the Kashmir valley and northern Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. In Kashmir, the Hangul animal is found in the Dachigam National Park and surrounding areas such as Rajparian Wildlife Sanctuary, Overa Aru, Sind Valley, and the forests of Kishtwar and Bhaderwah.
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