Markhor census to begin in Kashmir wildlife sanctuaries to assess near threatened species

Srinagar, Jan 16: A census of the near threatened Kashmir markhor, the world’s largest wild mountain goat, is set to begin soon in Jammu and Kashmir to assess its population size and habitat use.

The survey will be conducted by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Protection, Kashmir, and will begin in Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary in Shopian and the adjoining Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary, part of a single corridor along the northern slopes of the Pir Panjal range.

Project Head at WTI, Tanushree Srivastava, said, “Apart from Hirpora, we will be assessing Tatakuti wildlife sanctuary since we expect that the Hirpora population may have shifted there due to lower levels of disturbance.”

She said the census would later move to Kazinag National Park in north Kashmir, close to the Line of Control (LoC), which includes the Limber and Lachipora wildlife sanctuaries that were merged into the national park in 2007.

“The process will begin soon, and it might take us around two weeks to complete the process,” Srivastava said.

According to WTI, the last census conducted in 2023 recorded 221 Markhor, mostly in the Kazinag National Park, while numbers remained very low in the Hirpora wildlife sanctuary.

The Hirpora population is mainly scattered.

WTI has been working on markhor recovery and conservation in J&K since 2004 in collaboration with the Wildlife Department of Jammu and Kashmir.

The effort is part of WTI’s broader Species Recovery Programme, which focuses on improving the conservation status of threatened wildlife through long-term monitoring and habitat protection.

“For the past two decades, WTI has been working towards various aspects of Markhor conservation, including monitoring the Markhor population in the protected areas, understanding their ecology, identifying critical Markhor habitats in the protected areas, reducing dependency of local communities on the resources in the Markhor habitats, securing Markhor habitats by capacity building and increased patrolling by the frontline staff,” Srivastava said.

She said WTI-led surveys over the years have contributed to major conservation outcomes, including the expansion of Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary from 189 sq km to 341 sq km, the creation of Kazinag National Park by merging multiple protected areas, and the notification of Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary in 2012 after markhor were sighted there for the first time in six decades.

“We have been carrying out population estimation surveys since then every two to three years, giving population trends over the past two decades,” Srivastava said.

She said that the upcoming census would again be conducted jointly with the Wildlife Department and that an orientation programme for field staff had already been completed.

Assistant Conservator of Forests and Wildlife Warden for Pulwama-Shopian, Suhail Ahmad Wagay, said the orientation focused on a “specialised and multi-pronged approach” for the population estimation.

He said the census would rely on camera trap monitoring, drone-based surveys to cover rugged terrain, and a modified block count method incorporating additional trails.

“These advanced techniques are aimed at expanding the survey area, improving species detection rates, and significantly enhancing the accuracy, reliability, and scientific credibility of the population estimates,” Wagay said.

In north Kashmir, officials say conservation outcomes have been more encouraging.

Wildlife Warden for North Kashmir, Intesar Suhail, said that in most of J&K, the markhor population was now concentrated in the Kazinag-Lachipora-Limber corridor.

“Most of the Markhor population in J&K is confined to Kazinag National Park,” he said.

Suhail attributed the stagnation of markhor numbers in Hirpora to habitat loss following the diversion of land to Mughal Road in 2009, which reduced the sanctuary’s effective area.

“Even then, we can’t say the numbers have declined, but it has more or less remained constant,” Suhail said. “Let us see what comes out of the latest survey.”

Srivastava confirmed that the bulk of the 2023 census figures came from the Kazinag landscape.

“The numbers – 2023 census are mostly from the Kazinag corridor,” she said.

Once thought extinct in India, the Kashmir markhor (Capra falconeri) was rediscovered in J&K during surveys conducted by WTI beginning in 2005.

The species is now known to be restricted to two primary areas in the region – Kazinag National Park in Baramulla district near the LoC and Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary in Shopian district.

The markhor is listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Act, 1978.

Globally, the species ranges across the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, including parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and India.

Three subspecies occur in the region, distinguished by the shape and twist of their horns.

A 2004 statewide survey by WTI, in collaboration with the J&K Wildlife Department and the Nature Conservation Foundation, estimated that only 300 to 350 markhors survived across their historical range in the region at the time.

Today, Kazinag remains the species’ last stronghold in India, with smaller and fragmented populations persisting in Hirpora, Tatakuti, and Khargali Conservation Reserve in Poonch.