Ladakh on Wednesday adopted two endangered species, snow leopard and black-necked crane, as State animal and State bird, two years after it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile State of J&K. Officials point out that both species are rare and had been symbols of the state for a long time.
A notification has been issued by the Principal Secretary of the Union Territory’s Forest, Ecology, and Environment Department on behalf of Lieutenant Governor, Pawan Kotwal. “The Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh is pleased to declare snow leopard (Panther unica) and black-necked crane (Grus nicricollis) as state animal and state bird, respectively, of the union territory of Ladakh from the date of issue of this notification,” the statement reads. Black-necked crane, only found in Ladakh region, was the State bird of J&K before August 5, 2019. “Black-necked crane and snow leopard are two endangered species and the pride of Ladakh,” said Konchok Stanzin, Councillor from the Chushul constituency. This big update comes after the Union Territory parted ways from the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state in 2019.
According to reports, the black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh’s high-altitude wetlands and marshes. It is mostly listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. These birds arrive in Ladakh in March for breeding and migrate by October end or early November. In total, there are about 7,500 snow leopards left in the world, out of which 500 are in India. However, experts state that the population of snow leopards is between 200-300 in Ladakh alone.
