Deer census has J-K dept in soup

State wildlife bosses are annoyed by the last census, conducted by a local officer, which has put the department in an awkward position. They are now relying on two ‘‘experts’’ from the WII to do the counting and ‘‘portray a better picture’’. The aim, apparently, is also to snub the earlier findings.

Though the two WII officials, Qamar Qureshi and Nitu Shah, reportedly don’t possess any expertise on hangul, the department is going ahead with the census beginning tomorrow engaging at least 170 staffers. The hangul count at Dachigam will be completed in the next three days.

Sources said Qureshi is considered an expert on mapping and satellite imagery while Shah has a project on wild ass of the Rann of Kutch to his credit. None of them have worked on the hangul so far. However, WII scientist Satya Kumar, a renowned expert on hangul, has stayed away from the census.

Over the past decade, officials at the helm have been charged of ‘‘making up’’ the numbers of the hangul for their own gains. The survey conducted last year by the department’s senior warden that put the count at 140 were also kept a secret.

The hangul was once the biggest attraction of the sanctuary. The Shankaracharya hills provided pastures for huge herds of the deer. For the past two decades, though, the Dachigam jungles have come under tremendous strain from Gujjars and nomads who graze their cattle here. Then, there is a sheep farm and a huge fisheries outlet competing for the space.

‘‘The hangul numbers have fallen at Dachigam, obviously because the sheep compete for food. The nomads and forces disturb their fragile habitat,’’ said former principal conservator, Wildlife and Forests, A.R. Wani.