Snow leopard, black-necked crane declared state animal and bird of Ladakh
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Leh: The Union Territory of Ladakh has on Tuesday declared snow leopard and black-necked cranes as its state animal and state bird, respectively, sending waves of joy among the conservation community.
Both are iconic species and have been attracting tourists regularly, especially the snow leopard at the Hemis National Park for which the tourists come in winters too. Thanks to the efforts of Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust, a number of homestays were started in the Hemis area leading to the community being a stakeholder in the snow leopard conservation.
Another centre is being set up at Ulley in another part of Ladakh for conserving snow leopards.
"Just like there is a cap on the number of people for Hemis, we need one for Ulley too," said Tsewang Namgail, a member of Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust.
Black-necked cranes is a culturally significant bird for people of Ladalk as several local folk stories and folk songs mention this bird.
Namgail said a rough estimate puts the snow leopard's numbers at 250-300 and about 30-odd black-necked crane pairs in Ladakh.
According to World Wide Fund-India (WWF-India), a major threat to the successful breeding of black-necked cranes is the damage to the eggs and chicks, caused by feral dogs, owned both by armed forces as well as by the local nomads.
Another threat to the bird is the loss of their habitat, the human pressure on the wetlands, the primary habitat of cranes.
For over one decade, along with the government agencies, the WWF-India has been working towards the conservation of high altitude wetlands with the black-necked crane as a priority species in the Ladakh region.
Commending Ladakh's decision to select two threatened species as the state animal and state bird, Director, Wildlife and Habitats Programme at the WWF India Dipankar Ghosh said: "This notification will help create more awareness among the local people, government, staff, armed forces and tourists visiting Ladakh and Kargil."
