GENERAL ARTICLES
Conservation of hangul, Cervus hanglu –
paving the way ahead
Tanushree Srivastava* and Karthikeyan Vasudevan
Hangul Cervus hanglu is the only red deer species in India distributed in the Kashmir Himalaya. A
population of only 200-odd is currently surviving in the wild due to a variety of threats since prehistoric times. Given the critical nature of this population, use of multifaceted approaches and
technologies along with addressing the prerequisites to a successful conservation breeding programme, remains crucial to enhance the reproductive value of such endangered species. We expect
that the information on genetic diversity, reproductive biology and dietary niche of wild population,
generated through the ongoing work would speed up the species conservation efforts.
Keywords: Assisted reproductive technologies, Cervus hanglu, conservation breeding, endangered species, genetic
diversity, reproductive biology.
THE red deer originated and spread in Central Asia, in the
Tarim Basin, approximately two million years ago1–3.
Hangul (Cervus hanglu) is the only red deer species in
the Indian subcontinent4 and is presently distributed
in the Kashmir Himalaya (Figures 1 and 2). Until recently, hangul in Kashmir, India (Cervus elaphus hanglu)
along with the Yarkand–Tarim (Cervus elaphus yarkandensis) and Bukhara (Cervus elaphus bactrianus) red
deer populations of Central Asia were considered as
subspecies of Cervus elaphus3,5,6. However, currently all
the three subspecies have been merged into a single separate species named Cervus hanglu. Reported to be ranging from 3000 to 5000 at the beginning of the century,
hangul has faced a drastic decline in its population in the
last five decades7,8. Based on census operations carried
out in 2019 by the Department of Wildlife Protection,
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India, the hangul population
has been put at 237 adults. The census also highlighted an
alarmingly low male to female ratio, with only about 30
adult males surviving in the wild. A recent study suggests
that suitable habitats for hangul far exceed the area occupied by them in the landscape, as they exist as isolated
populations with limited exchange between them9. The
Dachigam National Park (DNP) probably supports a
breeding population along with a small population in
Shikargah, Tral Wildlife Sanctuary and Overa Wildlife
Sanctuary, J&K. Few other small populations of 34, 14
and 15 individuals occur in Wangat–Naranag, Chandaji–
Diver–Lolab and Overa–Aru respectively10,11.
Tanushree Srivastava and Karthikeyan Vasudevan are in the Laboratory
for the Conservation of Endangered Species, CSIR-Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500 048, India.
*For correspondence. (e-mail:
[email protected])
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 121, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2021
Past, present and future concerns to the
population
The Kashmir Himalaya which falls within the biogeographic unit of Northwestern Himalaya, supports 11 large
ungulate and 1 primate herbivore species. Since prehistoric times, the region has witnessed trophy hunting of
hangul, Tibetan antelope, Tibetan argali, ibex and markhor, as they were much-valued for their horns, flesh, antlers
and scent pods12. Edmund Loder, a hunter, visited Kashmir in 1900s and hunted markhor, ibex, musk deer, brown
bear, black bear and hangul13. Until 1947, Kashmir was a
princely state and hangul was considered a ‘royal game’
species. In 1960s, poaching was one of the biggest threats
for ungulates in the region, and it was forewarned that if not
uncontrolled, it might lead to the extinction of hangul7,14.
Like many other mountain ungulates, hangul migrate
between their summer and winter habitats in response to
seasonal variations in forage availability and environmental conditions. However, the high-altitude alpine pastures
Figure 1.
2019.
Female hangul sighted in lower Dachigam in December
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GENERAL ARTICLES
have a long history of use by nomadic livestock herders
during summer (June to September), thus overlapping
with hangul visitation of their summer habitats. This has
possibly been exposing the population to continuous
threats of interspecific competition for forage, transmission of diseases from livestock, and the newborns to predation risk by guard dogs7,14,15. Lower-altitude habitats,
on the other hand, pose other forms of threat like disturbance due to close proximity of roads, traffic and human
settlements. As autumn and winter probably correspond
to the breeding season and gestation in hangul females,
such disturbances would have a direct impact on recruitment of adults in the population. Recent studies suggest
that the hangul population in DNP is already confined to
the middle and lower altitudes during summer, and that it
tends to avoid suitable habitats even if there is less disturbance16. Large herbivores like hangul are therefore
highly vulnerable to the risks of extinction through competitive exclusion due to livestock grazing or other forms
of anthropogenic pressure for extended periods17.
Another concern about the hangul population is the
degradation and fragmentation of available habitats within
its distribution range in the Kashmir valley. Suitable
habitats far exceed the extent of habitats occupied by
hangul9. However, the lack of connectivity between these
habitats has restricted the movement of this species. Hangul population in DNP could be highly inbred, elevating
risks of local extinction due to inbreeding effects18.
Improved connectivity between protected areas (PAs) as
well as the surrounding wilderness areas and crucial habitats, has been identified as the key to conserve biodiversity
through continued gene flow between the populations of
a species. In addition, connected habitats give the populations a much better chance to respond and adapt to the
changing conditions due to climate change in comparison
to fragmented habitats.
Efforts put into hangul conservation so far
The recent elevation of the species status of C. hanglu
has brought back the focus on its conservation status5,6.
With geographic ranges drastically reduced after separation from the parental species, it was evaluated as Critically Endangered19 and received international attention
for its conservation. In 2007, the scheme ‘Integrated
Development of Wildlife Habitats’ was put in place by
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(MoEF&CC), Government of India (GoI). The scheme
had three components, including support of PAs, protection of wildlife outside the PAs and recovery programmes
for saving critically endangered species. The recovery
programme aimed at recovering 17 critically endangered
species, including hangul and their habitats.
For a species like the hangul, establishing a safe population outside its habitat in captivity is essential. Recommendations for conservation breeding of hangul for the
purpose of its survival and augmentation of the population in the wild are being made since 1960s (refs 7, 10,
11, 20). Global examples exist for Arabian oryx Oryx
leucoryx (Saudi Arabia), Pere David’s deer Elaphurus
davidianus (China), Przewalski’s horse Equus przewalskii (Mongolia and China), and Northern white rhinoceros
Ceratotherium simumcottoni (Africa), where small wild
populations have been successfully augmented from captive-bred populations or rescued using assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs)21–24. Based on these successes,
the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) under MoEF&CC, GoI
emphasized the need to establish a captive hangul population in 2005 and supported establishing a breeding centre
in the Kashmir Himalaya in 2008. The breeding centre
was set up in Shikargah in Tral region, Pulwama district,
South Kashmir in 2011, but there are still no hangul in
captivity. A collaboration among Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir
(SKUAST, J&K), Department of Wildlife Protection,
J&K, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, USA, to initiate conservation breeding of hangul is in place.
Paving the way ahead
Figure 2. A group of male and female hangul sighted in lower Dachigam in February 2021.
486
When the population size is smaller than the available
suitable habitats, a proactive strategy would be to: (a)
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 121, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2021
GENERAL ARTICLES
translocate animals–protect–monitor, (b) conservation
breed–reintroduce–monitor and (c) both. Alternatively, a
passive strategy would be to establish corridors–protect–
monitor. This strategy has certainly paid-off for the conservation of the species as it would secure a population
and highlight the conservation status of the species. Given
the critical nature of the hangul population, the proactive
measure might be required, while keeping the passive
strategy going hand-in-hand. When the recruitment as
adults in the population is expected to be low as revealed
from low fawn to female ratio of 7 : 100, it becomes imperative to identify the drivers of poor reproductive success25. There are several unknowns, such as: what is the
breeding potential of the population? What percentage of
adults is reproductively active? What is the survival rate
of the young ones? Conservation breeding is a longdrawn process and it would not result in outcomes for
conservation of the species immediately. Among the
prerequisites to establish a successful hangul breeding
programme, a few important ones are – establishment of
a genetically diverse founder population, assessment of
reproductive status of adults in the wild as well as in captivity, and assessing nutritive requirements in captivity,
meeting behavioural requirements of the species and
implementation of a conservation breeding plan.
Reproductive potential and survivorship are the two
essential parameters for arriving at the reproductive value
(RV) of a species. In natural populations, the contribution
of residual reproductive value is constrained due to reproductive trade-offs. The use of ARTs to monitor reproduction and biobanking of semen, oocytes and embryos
from live and post-mortem animals can therefore add
another level of protection to the breeding stock and in
turn the species conservation programme26. With implementation of ARTs, the residual reproductive potential
becomes several folds high, thereby enhancing the RV of
a species. Assessment of body condition and age of red
stag using the acoustic patterns of their rutting calls
is also possible. It has been used in different subspecies
of red deer27, but not so far in hangul. An assessment of
vital parameters of the population, such as growth rate,
birth rate, death rate and sex ratio using accurate techniques is also essential. The use of such multifaceted approaches and technologies is expected to hold tremendous
potential for rescuing endangered species globally.
tion, J&K since 2019 to further streamline the conservation breeding programme by addressing the following: (a)
genetic diversity of hangul population in situ, (b) reproductive parameters, including hormone profiles related to
reproduction and stress in adult males and females, and
(c) the dietary plant diversity associated with seasons, reproductive stages and sexes. The project aims to generate
this information from non-invasively collected faecal
samples from the wild. In addition, livestock herders
residing in and around PAs where hangul are currently
distributed will be interviewed to assess the extent of
overlap in livestock grazing pastures and the foraging
grounds of hangul. These surveys would reveal the level
of impact of livestock grazing on the hangul population
through competition for forage, disturbance and transmission of diseases.
We have marked permanent sampling trails in DNP
and Tral Wildlife Sanctuary (Figures 3 and 4). We have
collected fresh faecal samples of hangul while we monitored these trails on a monthly basis (Figure 5). We
started our field-data collection in September 2019, and
are processing the samples to understand the current reproductive value of adults, identify the associated fitness
traits and monitor their reproductive cycles. We will use
faecal metabolite concentrations of estradiol, progesterone and testosterone to assess the seasonal patterns of
the reproductive cycle of the wild hangul population. We
will also measure the faecal glucocorticoid levels to
Recent research
The National Mission for Himalayan Studies (NMHS)
has supported a project to improve capacity in wildlife
conservation in the Kashmir Himalaya using hangul as a
flagship species. This project is being executed by CSIRCentre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB)
Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species
in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife ProtecCURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 121, NO. 4, 25 AUGUST 2021
Figure 3. a, Location of the Dachigam National Park (DNP) in India.
b, Location of permanent sampling trails in lower part of DNP.
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GENERAL ARTICLES
assess the stress experienced by the population and to
identify the factors associated with the same. When monitored at the population level it will provide a window to
evaluate the patterns in reproduction in the species. This
becomes an invaluable management tool as it would
guide the decisions to manage the population. We are
genotyping faecal samples to estimate the population size
and sex ratio. We are also profiling the dietary forage
plants using plant DNA barcodes generated from faecal
samples. These efforts would fill some of the gaps in the
current knowledge on the biology of hangul.
The scientists from CSIR-CCMB provided training for
30 officials at Department of Wildlife Protection, J&K,
including forest guards, Range Officers and wildlife veterinarians and faculties and 65 Ph.D. students at the University of Kashmir and SKUAST, Srinagar, through
workshops on wildlife forensics investigation, wildlife
disease monitoring and diagnosis, advanced wildlife
forensics, ARTs and biobanking, basics of R for ecology
and basic open-source GIS. Outreach programmes were
held for schools in Srinagar and a wildlife photography
competition was also held.
Figure 4.
Habitat types exhibited by the permanent sampling trails.
Figure 5. (a) Hangul hoof mark on snow and (b) fresh hangul pellets
on snow in DNP in February 2021.
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Aspirational goals of the work
By acquiring information on the project objectives as
mentioned above, we expect to help in speeding up the
process of protecting and managing the hangul population
as well as its habitats in a more informed and efficient
way.
For instance, the reproductive profiles of the population would enable us to identify the critical phases in its
reproduction, viz. breeding and birthing. This could inform
the management to afford greater protection to the population at a particular elevation and during a specified
period of the year. The reproductive biology and dietary
niche reconstruction for the in situ population would
equip the Department of Wildlife Protection, J&K to
manage the captive hangul population, once it is established. These hormone profiles would serve as a parameter
that could be monitored in the future for evaluating different impacts, including climate change. More immediately, it would serve implementation of ARTs in the captive
population. The capacity building programmes are meant
to engage with the stakeholders of hangul conservation in
a variety of ways. If the conservation of hangul has to be
successful, the people of Kashmir valley have to step into
different roles that the project has demonstrated. We hope
that the mentees of the programme turn into mentors and
create many more human resources to carry forward the
work.
Globally, conservation of critically endangered species
constitutes aspirational projects which involve several
institutions. At a time when there is a spate of species
extinctions, it brings hope, restores confidence in institutions and promotes scientific growth. They have the characteristics of any large science-driven programmes that
showcase the strengths and resolve of the society. It is
possible to restore the population of hangul to levels
documented over a century ago. Since the historic area of
occupancy of the species is known11, and adequate suitable habitats still exist9, it should be made as the goal of
the species recovery programme to restore the population
to this level. To achieve this in the future, efforts should
be made to identify, connect and secure all available
habitats and the corridors without any further delay.
Establishing a captive population is one of the several
important steps in achieving this aspirational goal. It
would be one which builds foundational knowledge about
the population, and reproductive biology and feeding
ecology of the species so that hangul populations, both in
situ and ex situ, seamlessly benefit from management
decisions that enhance their numbers and improve their
conservation status. It should use the best available scientific knowledge on the reproductive, trophic and population biology of hangul or any other related species. From
global experiences, we now know that extinction of
hangul can be averted. However, the initiatives rest with
us.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the National Mission on Himalayan Studies, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Government of India for funds and Department of Wildlife Protection,
Jammu and Kashmir, for research permits. We also thank Nisar Ahmad
for assistance in field-data collection.
Received 14 May 2021; accepted 18 July 2021
doi: 10.18520/cs/v121/i4/485-489
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