The Hangul Deer or Kashmiri Stag is the state animal of Jammu & Kashmir.
It is the only sub-species of European red deer in India.
The animal was classified as ‘critically endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Dachigam National Park in Srinagar is considered to be the last undisturbed home of the Kashmiri stag.
Similar in appearance to the European red deer, the Kashmir stag has a tiny white rump patch and a short dark tail.
Ganges River Dolphin
Rise in Salinity in the water systems in the Indian Sundarbans has resulted in the decrease of population of the Gangetic River Dolphin.
Gangetic River Dolphin is the National Aquatic Animal.
It inhabits he Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
It is classified as “Endangered” by the IUCN Red list.
It is listed on Appendix I of the CITES.
Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD)
India has recently submitted its Sixth National Report (NR6) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
CBD provides the framework of an international law, recognising conservation of biological diversity as an integral part of the development process.
The CBD is aimed at conserving biological diversity, sustainably using biological components and fair and equitable sharing of benefits (with local or indigenous communities) that may arise out of the utilisation of genetic resources.
Equitable sharing of benefits was delineated in the Nagoya Protocol, which came into effect in 2014.
Third Pole
It is in the region which is to the north of India and to the south of China.
The Third Pole region spreads across the Himalaya-Hindu Kush mountain ranges and the Tibetan Plateau.
It is called the Third Pole because it contains the third largest expanse of frozen water on earth.
It is much smaller in area than the north or the south pole, but is still enormous, covers 100,000 square kilometres and has around 45,000 glaciers.
Ten of Asia’s largest rivers begin in the third pole.
These include the Yellow river and Yangtze river in China, the Irrawaddy river in Myanmar, the Ganges which flows through India and Bangladesh, and the Mekong river that flows through several countries.
It has the largest reserve of fresh water outside the two major polar regions and its waters sustain life over many thousands of miles.
