Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir):With the abolition of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, on August 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were bifurcated into two separate Union Territories.
With the partition of Jammu and Kashmir, the administration faced an uphill task while distributing property and treasury among the two newly-formed UTs. Also, there was a need to choose new state animals and birds for the regions.
Although the process was started at the end of 2019, the Ladakh Administration finally announced its new state animals and birds on Tuesday.
"Lieutenant Governor RK Mathur has designated the snow leopard as the state animal and the black-necked crane as the state bird," a notification issued by the Ladakh administration read.
Interestingly, the black-necked crane was also the state bird of Jammu and Kashmir and is only found in the Ladakh region in India. The snow leopard and the black-necked crane are both rare and endangered.
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"The crane is 1.35 meters tall and weighs about 8 kilograms. It has a red crown on its head and is often seen in pairs. The snow leopard is about 2.4 meters long. And it is also called the Ghost of the Mountains. Apart from Ladakh, it is found in Uttarakhand and a few areas of Himachal Pradesh," a senior wildlife official said.
As for the new state animal and bird of Jammu and Kashmir, no bird has been chosen yet.
According to the official, "The animal will always remain hangul (Kashmiri Stag) and as far as the bird is concerned, the Kashmir flycatcher is being considered at the moment. The same bird may get the status of the state bird."
"The bird must be the native of the state and the true representative of the state's identity. One of the main reasons for designating the state animal and bird is to give them protection and special attention. I think the flycatcher satisfies all the conditions," the official said while explaining the process of choosing the state symbols.
Ladakh has yet to take a call on its state tree and flower. Jammu and Kashmir have chinar as state tree and lotus as the flower.
