A Species Reduced to a Single Valley
The Hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu) is the only surviving subspecies of the Kashmir stag, a large deer whose antlers can carry up to sixteen tines, more than almost any cervid on the subcontinent. It once ranged across the forests of Himachal Pradesh, parts of Afghanistan, and the Kashmir Valley. Today, its entire wild population is concentrated inside and around the Dachigam National Park, a 141-square-kilometre protected area on the outskirts of Srinagar. That is not a recovery story. That is a species backed into a corner.
