Context Ladakh recently adopted two endangered species, snow leopard and black-necked crane, as the State animal and the State bird.
Black-necked crane, only found in the Ladakh region, was the State bird of J&K before August 5, 2019.
About Snow Leopard
It is also known as Ghost of the mountains.
They are positioned as the top predator in the food web.
It acts as an indicator of the health of the mountain ecosystem in which they live.
Habitat: Higher Himalayan and trans-Himalayan landscape in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Snow Leopard’s capital of the world: Hemis, Ladakh.
Threats: Reduction in prey populations, illegal poaching and increased human population infiltration into the species habitat and illegal trade of wildlife parts and products
Conservation Efforts by India:
Himal Sanrakshak: It is a community volunteer programme, to protect snow leopards, launched on 23rd October 2020
In 2019, First National Protocol was also launched on Snow Leopard Population Assessment
SECURE Himalaya: Global Environment Facility (GEF)-UNDP funded project on conservation of high altitude biodiversity
Project Snow Leopard launched in 2009
Snow Leopard is in the list of 21 critically endangered species for the recovery programme of the Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change.
About Black-necked crane
It has A conspicuous red crown that adorns the head.
The juveniles have a brownish head and neck and plumage is slightly paler than that of an adult.
The bird is revered by the community of Monpas (major Buddhist ethnic group of Arunachal Pradesh) as an embodiment of the sixth Dalai Lama (Tsangyang Gyatso).
Habitat and Breeding Grounds : The high altitude wetlands of the Tibetan plateau , Sichuan (China), and eastern Ladakh (India)
In Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, it only comes during the winters.
Threats: Damage to the eggs and chicks; Loss of habitat due to humans Development Projects; Increased grazing pressure on the limited pastures near the wetlands.
Steps for their Conservation: World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India) in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu & Kashmir, has been working towards conservation of high altitude wetlands, with black-necked cranes as a priority species in Ladakh region.
