The Kashmir Stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu) popularly known as Hangul, is the only surviving subspecies of Red deer in the whole of Asia.

In early 20th century, the Hangul population was believed to be around 5000 spreading across the highland region of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal pradesh of India.  In 1940, a survey revealed the population to be around 3000. The cultivation and hunting was believed to be reason for the population decline for this magnificant deer species at that time. But in the post independence (1947) era of India, the population declined steeply.

A survey published by E. P. Gee in 1957 revealed that only 400 specimens of the Kashmir Stag is surviving in the region. This survey placed the rare deer species as one of the most endangered species of the Indian subcontinent along with Indian Rhino and Asiatic Lion.

Kashmir Stag - Struggling in the Survival Battle for half a century

In 1967, George B. Schaller , in his study of Kasmir Stag, estimated the population as 180 only. It was based on 88 deer observed in the region. So, despite identified as a rare animal a decade back, the population of this beautiful deer continued to decline.

In 1970, as per Wildlife Journal December issue authored by another naturalist Dr Holloway the population of Kashmiri Stag estimated as mere 140. Holloway also wrote that Hangul’s territory shrunk to an area of 65 kms wide. He said the area seemed to be overgrazed, with erosion becoming apparent due to grazing by thousands of cattle of Gujjars. This created red alarm among the wildlife organizations across the globe. The same year Government of India and Jammu and Kashmir along with IUCN and WWF launched a major conservation project named “Project Hangul”. Both the wildlife organizations along with the government, the project slowly showed results in later years.

The major inputs to the Project Hangul in the earlier stages were research and monitoring. Kahmir Stag’s habitat, terrotoriality, population dynamics and predotors, etc studied very closely. In 1977, there was a report of increase in Hanglu population. But a disease killed over 50 Hanguls in 1978. Dr Fred Kurt, who studied Hangul in Dachigam until 1979 gave some tips to J-K government over protection of Hangul and its habitat. Some intense conservation steps were taken in the Dachigam Sanctuary following these tips. Strict patrolling was started, the poaching of the stag reduced sgnificantly. Deforestation was banned and most of the Gujjars and Bakerwals living near the sanctuary were shifted by the government. The Dachigam was upgraded to National Park status in 1981. Also the project took special care for diseases amonng the haguls, wild fire, etc. All these hard work byt the project team started giving result when in 1980 the population for the Hanguls were reported as around 550. In 1987 it increased to around 800. In September-October 1988, the census conducted by department in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of Dehradun and Centre for Wildlife and Ornithology, Aligarh had put the population of Hangul in the area as high as 918 animals with 48:52 as male-female ratio. This was a real positive sign for the survival of the species.

But 1988 marks as the end of positive trend for Kasmir stag population. The same year, the political imbalance broke out in the sate Jammu and Kashmir. It was a big blow to the project Hangul and conservation of the Kashmir Stag. The cross border terrorism in the state affected the wildlife too along with many human lives. Militants killed Hanguls for meat and also poaching increased in the park due to loosen security measures. And the Hnguls suffered the most due to all these. There were disturbances in breeding grounds and final verdict was out when a 1996 survey revealed the hungul population to be just 110, the lowest ever recorded in the history!

The cross border terrorism is still an issue int the region, so the kashmir Stags are also continuing the struggle of survival. The census of 2004 estimated the population of Hangul at 197 while in 2008 it reduced to 127. The current a population of Kashmir Stag is estimated just around 220 (survey 2011). This means a slight rise from the last survey done in 2009 when the estimated population was near 170. The 2009 census indicated that for every 100 females, there are 27 males and 28 fawns as compared to 23 and 9 respectively in 2008.

Four decades past now, conservationists finding it difficult to grow the Kashmir Stag’s population from  150 in 1970 till date. It is now identified as critically endangered species in the red list of IUCN.

The Ministry of Environments and Forestry, India has already approved Rs 22 crores Species Recovery Plan for Hangul for a period of five years under the Species Recovery Programme of the “Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats”. This is a good hope for the rare species. But until the political stability is achieved the Hangul’s are in the mouth of great danger.

Indus river blind dolphins which are popularly known as Bhulan or Indus Susu, are one of the rarest mammal species in earth. They are also the only the only species in the world to have eyes without lenses! Instead, they have sound imaging skills called echolocation, which is a very sophisticated sonar system that helps them swim through the muddy rivers. This is the reason why they called blind Dolphins.

But this marvellous species in endangered and only few hundreds (less then one thousand) left in the Indus river.

River Dolphin

The protection of Bhulan’s is in a threat recently when the news of the deaths of such six rare dolphins within the last month comes up. According the the Pakistan wildlife sources, it happened mainly due to low water level and contaminated water.

Authorities are carrying out investigations to determine the real cause behind the killing of blind dolphin. They said that water levels are very low in the Indus River now due to which a small amount of poisonous chemicals can kill a large number of fish.

Initially, fishermen of the area have been alleged as using poisonous chemicals to catch fish, which contaminated the river water.

Khalid Khan, a fisher man of 28, accused the toxic waste released as the reason of the killing of fish in the Indus River.

“Poisonous release of factories from southern Punjab is the real culprit as a large amount of poisonous waste from the factories pollutes the rivers, which are tributaries of the Indus River,” Khan said.

This is a story of a giant turtle species that is more than 200 Kg in weight and more than 2 meter in length could keep itself unknown to human eyes for more centuries. Even in 21st century, this species is a mystery and viewed by humans a few number of times only. This could even be the largest fresh water turtle in the world. 

Almost 500 years from now, a King of Vietnam found a giagantic holy turtle during a cruise on a lake called Luc Thuy(Green Lake) near Hanoi. There is a mythical believe that the turtle told the King to return the sacred sword that he had gotten from Kim Qui, the Golden Turtle God and had helped him defeat the northern Ming aggressors returing peace to the region. The king unsheathed his sword and threw it to the turtle. The turtle took it and dove away. The king was none other than  Le Loi, also known as Le Thai To, the founder of the Le Dynasty in Vietnam, under whom the Chinese had accepted Vietnam’s independence. Later the king renmaed the lake as Hoan Kiem” (Lake of Returned Sword). For hundreds of years, people couldn’t discover any turtle like reptile in that lake, until when a giant turtle was actually captured late 20th century. The giant turtles mysteriously kept themselves away from the human eyes for centuries!

The story of the king Le Loi has been passed down from generation to generation and recorded in history books, and there were no real evidence of what the giant reptile may have looked like until 1967. It was the year when Vietnam war was on its peak. Ha Noi Food company caught a giant turtle from the lake. The turtle weighed about 200 kilos and was about 2 metres(6 ft 3in)^[ long. The company was going to sell the meat, but someone alerted the Ha Noi People’s Committee and the then mayor Dr Tran Duy Hung ordered them to stop the sale. Unfortunately the turtle died on June 2, the same year because of mishandling. It was later stuffed and is now on display at the Ngoc Son Temple which is situate on the northern shore of the lake.

Rare photo of the Hoan kiem Turtle

But after the single catch, the turtle was hardly ever viewed by the common people. Mysteriously the giant turtle shy away from revealing itself inthe small shallow lake, measuring 200 meters wide, 600 meters long, and only two meters deep.  But on March 24, 1998 an amateur cameraman caught the creature on video, conclusively proving the elusive creatures still survived in the lake. Apart from this photography, few local researchers done extensive study of the turtle too.
Ha Dinh Duc, one of the best known local biologists who has done extensive research on the turtle for decades. He  teaches in the Biology Department of the School of Natural Sciences in Vietnam. He gave the Hoan Kiem turtle its scientific name, Rafetus leloii, after the King Le Loi’s name.

Duc believes that the species could be related to the trionychidae species, Rafetus swinhoei, also known as the Shanghai soft-shell turtle, a critically endangered species found in China. There are only two known turtle of this species in captivity in China. Another one is believed to be in Dong Mo Lake near Hanoi. He has studied and preserved anything related to soft-shell turtles. He also studies the aquatic conditions and life forms in Hoan Kiem Lake which may affect the rare species.

“I believe the turtle living in the lake now is the very one that took away King Le Loi’s sword, as this species can live as long as 500 or even 700 years,” Duc says. According to him this species is near to extinction. He also explains that the turtle that lives in Hoan Kiem Lake can be recognised by the white spot on his head and a tendency to turn left when he swims.

Duc , who also keeps around 300 -400 collected photographs of the turtle, says  “The problem is we do not know how to test Rafetus Leloii’s sex. Moreover, he is too old and fragile for any testing.”

Vietnamese belive that over the last two millennia, the turtle deity is said to have helped design fortifications, thwart enemy armies and produce a number of enchanted weapons.

In 1995, the Ha Noi People’s Committee turned down an offer from Peter Pritchard, a researcher from the Archie Carr Centre for Sea Turtle Research, University of Florida to study the lake’s turtle . The authorities declined the request for joint-research efforts on the grounds that it is a sacred creature closely related to the soul of the Vietnamese people.  Similarly The World Wildlife Fund for Nature, agrees and does not finance any programs to study the species.

Similar to Duc, another local researcher, Ngo believes that there are actually five turtles living in Hoan Kiem Lake. Ngo started paying attention to the turtle when he first glimpsed of a sighting in 2002. His new theory has shocked local people, but like others he also believes the turtles in the lake are supernatural creatures. Ngo said he has been lucky to witness 40 of the 60 recorded times the Great Turtle has surfaced since 2003.

Though, very little bit of research is going on this turtles, one thing is sure that the turtle is threatened to extinct and Lake’s conditions are getting worse day by day. Pollution and illegal fishing  in the lake is threatening the life of the Hoan Kiem Lake turtle. Another threat is coming from a notorious invasive species – red-eared slider turtle in the lake.

Duc said he has warned against the invasion of red eared sliders in Hoan Kiem Lake since 2004 but local authorities have taken no action against the problem.

Red Eared Turtle beside the rare Hoan Kiem Turtle

“City leaders should discuss the issue thoroughly before launching a long-term plan to protect the giant turtle,” he said.

Many Vietnamese people have the habit of releasing animals, including red eared sliders, into the wild to pray for good luck, an action that has been severely criticized by conservationists.  The  red eared slider turtles are outcome of the same activity only.

We hope the turtles will be reseached well and also preserved. None knows it could be last one who is representing an unique species of  the planet.

Alka, an elephant at the Orang National Park brings joy to wildlife animal lovers, as she created a history by giving birth to twins in the sanctuary on 15th December. Alka has engaged at the National Park to ferry thousands of tourists inside the wildlife sanctury for several years. Orang is situated in Assam, North-East India. The National Park, aka Rajib Gandhi National Park, is located on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra and around 150 km west of the capital city of the state Assam. It is home to rich flora and fauna, including the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros, Pigmy hog, Elephants, Wild buffalo and Tigers.

Alka with her one day old little twins

The twin elephant calves, both female, were seen enjoying the warmth of their mother as Alka’s mahout Trailokya Bishya, who passed a sleepless night to protect the twins from the tigers, watched over them.

“I was on ambush duty in a camp a little away. Around 3 a.m. I heard Alka yelling in labour pain. At crack of dawn, when I reached her I was overjoyed to see that she had already given birth,” Mr. Baishya told. He lit a fire, preparing to guard the mother and the twins. Mr. Baishya was vigilant against possible tiger attacks. The 80-sq. km. park has an estimated 16 Royal Bengal Tigers.

Twins are extremely rare in the domesticated world of elephants. It is rare because a large-bodied animal would have to invest significantly higher effort to obtain nutritious food for twin foetuses. It is more likely to occur in wild elephants who have access to both wild food as well as cultivated crops which are more nutritious.

India has recorded Elephant twins birth more than a decade ago in Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. 2010 turns out to be an exceptional year for Elephants as this is the second report of Elephant twins in the same year. Early this year, Phang Thong Khun, an elephant from Thailand gave birth to male twins.