SRINAGAR: A rare and threatened species of Musk Deer was captured alive in the Chandeji forest belt of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, Wildlife officials said on Tuesday.
A wildlife official said that the Musk Deer, commonly known as ‘Roose Kat’, was roaming in the Chandeji forests after which the animal was captured alive by the locals. “The musk deer, which is an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List), will be taken to Dachigam National Park, a wildlife sanctuary, on the outskirts of Srinagar city.”
It is also important to note that Hangul, Kashmir stag, is already facing crisis in Kashmir.
“It was spotted hidden in the bushes by the locals who informed the territorial Forest Protection Force officials, they in turn informed us and we sent the team and rescued the Musk Deer,” Fida Hussain a wildlife in-charge in Bandipora said. Hussain said the Musk Deer was brought to Chiternaar wildlife rehabilitation center and then shifted to the Animal Husbandry Department for a veterinary medical checkup.
Some local residents also clicked photographs and shot a video of the Musk Deer when it was spotted and later when it was captured and was being shifted to the Wildlife Sanctuary by the officials. Some local news gathering agency portals also published the photos and video of the captured Musk Deer on social media platform Facebook (Meta).
It may be recalled that only last month, a Islamabad based photo and videographer Abdul Hadi shot a short video of the Musk Deer in Neelum Valley across the Line of Control in Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK). The report has already been published in Kashmir Times.
On the positive side, Hussain said there were “no injury marks,” and that the female KMD was stable but “distressed due to some apparent nerve problems in its hind leg as suggested by the veterinary doctor,” Hussain said.
The officials also estimated the Musk Deer’s age between 7 and 8 years, which, they said, suggested that the species has been “essentially conserved” in the belt as it was old enough for its age to have survived for all these years.
It is important to note that the area where the Musk Deer was found comes under a belt in Bandipora which is considered fragile for its rich flora and fauna.
This is not the first time the elusive Musk Deer has been spotted or rescued in the area. The officials in 2022 spotted a Deer and some years ago rescued a Musk Deer too, Hussain said.
The area is spread across Gurez and covers Chandeji near Kishanganga Power Project, Athwatoo, Tangath and other areas in Bandipora too.
Besides Kashmir Musk Deer, the belt, particularly besides the Kishanganga Hydel Power Project, is also known to have the presence of distinctive Himalayan Ibex and Kail, a type of mountain goat. They face threat from snow leopard and black and brown bears in their habitat.
Hussain said, “considering the age of the Himalayan Musk Deer, it suggests that the number would surely have increased.”
—–
