State Animal and State Bird of Ladakh

State Animal and State Bird of Ladakh: Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 3: Environment: Conservation, environmental pollution, and degradation.

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State Animal and State Bird of Ladakh- Context

• Recently, the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh adopted two endangered species, snow leopard and black-necked crane, as State Animal and State bird of Ladakh.
• The black-necked crane, only found in the Ladakh region, was the State bird of J&K before August 5, 2019 (foundation day of UT of Ladakh).

Kaziranga National Park

Snow Leopard

• About: Snow leopards are the top predator in the food web and act as an indicator of the health of the mountain ecosystem.
  • Scientific Name: Panthera uncia
• Habitat of Snow leopard:
  • In India: inhabits the higher Himalayan and trans-Himalayan landscape in the five states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
    • Hemis, Ladakh is known as the Snow Leopard capital of the world.
  • In the World: Mountainous regions of central and southern Asia.
• Protection Status: It is included in-
  • ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s Red List of the Threatened Species.
  • ‘Appendix I’ of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
  • ‘Schedule I’ of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
  • The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS),

Dibru­ Saikhowa National Park

Black-necked Crane

• About: Black-necked Cranes are medium-sized alpine cranes, weighing about 5 kg each and standing about 115 cm tall.
  • The upper long neck, head, primary and secondary flight feathers and tail are completely black and a conspicuous red crown adorns the head.
  • Both the sexes of Black Necked Crane are almost of the same size, but the male is slightly bigger than the female.
  • The juveniles have a brownish head and neck and plumage is slightly paler than that of an adult.
  • Scientific name: Grus nigricollis
• Habitat of the bird:
  • Breeding Ground: The high-altitude wetlands of the Tibetan plateau, Sichuan (China), and eastern Ladakh (India) are the main breeding ground of the species.
    • The birds spend winter at lower altitudes
    • In Ladakh, Black-necked cranes are only found in Changthang region.
  • In Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, it only comes during the winters. In Arunachal Pradesh, it is often sighted in-
    • Sangti Valley in West Kameng district,
    • Chug valleys and Zemithang provinces in the Tawang district.
• Protection Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Near Threatened
  • CITES: Appendix I
  • Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

Deepor Beel Wetland and Wildlife Sanctuary

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