There is good news for Kashmir’s “endangered and vulnerable” lovebirds, the black-necked cranes, known for their loyalty to mates. Only a few pairs were sighted in the Ladakh region in 1980s but the number has now gone up to 95, the highest-ever recorded in a survey so far.
According to the latest census by the State Department of Wildlife Protection, the bird population at 22 wetlands in Ladakh’s high plateaus has gone up from 38 in 1997 to 95, including 14 breeding pairs.
“In the past, only two wetlands were known in Ladakh where these birds were sighted. In 2013, a satellite-based telemetry study on black-necked cranes was carried out in Changthang Cold Desert Sanctuary and around 22 wetlands have been identified as their habitats now,” Kargil Wildlife Warden, Intesar Suhail, told The Hindu . Once a black-necked crane chooses its partner, the couple stays together for life.
