Ladakh announces snow leopard as state animal, black-necked crane as state bird

The Ladakh Union Territory administration on Wednesday, 1 September announced snow leopard as its state animal and black-necked crane as its state bird.Meanwhile, a notification has been issued by the Principal Secretary of the Union Territory’s Forest, Ecology, and Environment Department on behalf of Lieutenant Governor, Pawan Kotwal."The Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh is pleased to declare snow leopard (Panther unica) and black-necked crane (Grus nicricollis) as state animal and state bird, respectively, of the union territory of Ladakh from the date of issue of this notification," the statement reads.This big update comes after the Union Territory parted ways from the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state in 2019. Earlier, the black-necked crane was the state bird of J&K that existed until 5 August, 2019.According to reports, the black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh's high-altitude wetlands and marshes. It is mostly listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. These birds arrive in Ladakh in March for breeding and migrate by October end or early November.In total, there are about 7,500 snow leopards left in the world, out of which 500 are in India. However, experts state that the population of snow leopards is between 200-300 in Ladakh alone.Among the many places and forests, the high-altitude cold desert of Ladakh is home to about half of them. Meanwhile, in the Ladakh region, snow leopards prey on marmots, bharal (blue sheep), and ibex. Also, sighting them is very rare.For the unversed, people in Ladakh believe that sighting a black-necked crane signifies good luck.