Himalayan Goral Augmentation Initiative: Releasing Endangered Species into the Wild

The Himalayan goral augmentation initiative at the Singalila National Park in the Darjeeling district has been taken up by the state forest department and the management of the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP) in Darjeeling.

The gorals are goat-like creatures with horns that live in steep areas. They are a species of herbivore that is also threatened.

Four gorals, two males and two females, each born in captivity at the PNHZP, were released into the national park on Saturday as part of the plan.

Debal Roy, the state's major chief wildlife warden and conservator of forests, was present for the release along with other high-ranking authorities.

As part of our augmentation effort, we released two pairs of gorals into Singalila National Park on Saturday. This is the first time that the initiative has been made, according to PNHZP director Basavaraj S. Holeyachi.

The Himalayan regions of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in India, as well as Southeast Asian nations including Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Tibet, are home to Himalayan gorals, according to the foresters. They claimed that the species may be found up to 9,000 feet above sea level.

But over time, its population has drastically decreased because to its meat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has now classified the goral as an endangered species in its red data book on animal species' fragility.

There are now 33 gorals at the PNHZP zoo. A forester said, "There are plans to eventually release additional gorals into the wild.

Since its founding in 1958, the PNHZP has gained international reputation for its efforts to conserve and breed endangered species that are unique to the Himalayas, including salamanders, snow leopards, Tibetan wolves, and Himalayan red pandas.

In addition, the Central Zoo Authority named the park the greatest of its type in the nation in 2022 out of over 130 zoos.