Kashmir stag

The Kashmir stag, also called hangul (Kashmiri pronunciation: [hãːɡul]), is a subspecies of Central Asian red deer endemic to Kashmir and surrounding areas. It is found in dense riverine forests in the valleys and mountains of Jammu and Kashmir and northern Himachal Pradesh. In Kashmir, it is found primarily in the Dachigam National Park and in Tral Wildlife Sanctuary where it receives protection, and elsewhere it is more at risk. In the 1940s, the population was between 3000 and 5000 individuals, but since then habitat destruction, over-grazing by domestic livestock and poaching have reduced population dramatically. Its population is now grown marginally to 289 in 2023 from 197 in 2004. It is the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the only surviving Asiatic sub-species of the Red deer family.

Earlier believed to be a subspecies of red deer (Cervus elaphus), a number of mitochondrial DNA genetic studies later had the hangul as a part of the Asian clade of the elk (Cervus canadensis). The IUCN and American Society of Mammalogists, however, include it in the new grouping of Central Asian red deer (Cervus hanglu), with the Kashmir stag being the type subspecies (Cervus hanglu hanglu).