KD NEWS SERVICE
SRINAGAR, Oct 21: The Jammu and Kashmir government has adopted the Kalij Pheasant as UT bird. Commissioner secretary, Forests, Environment and Ecology, Sanjeev Verma said that Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos) has been adopted as UT bird. “J&K had to adopt a new bird as UT bird because black-necked cranes are only found in Ladakh,” he said.
Erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state had the black-necked crane and Kashmir stag (Hangul) as its state bird and animal respectively. After the reorganization of J&K, Ladakh adopted black-necked crane as its UT bird. Verma said Hangul would continue to remain as UT animal of Jammu & Kashmir.