May 16, 2012 | 7 Human greed is being blamed for the near-
extinction of the spectacularly spiral-horned markhor (Capra
falconeri cashmiriensis) in the northern Indian state Jammu and
Kashmir. The critically endangered goat has faced years of
population decline from illegal trophy hunting, competition with
livestock for habitat and other man-made threats. The subspecies
is now down to its last 300 to 400 individuals. There is some
good news for the markhor, though. Four parks already maintain
small, protected populations of the rare goats, and a fifth was
announced on April 27. Officials have yet to say how many
markhor will be protected in the newly established, 66-square-
kilometer Tatakuti Wildlife Sanctuary. But critics say
protecting a small population may not do much to help the
markhor as a whole. “Declaring a protected area is just the
starting point and not the end of the crusade of conservation,”
Intesar Suhail, wildlife warden with the Shopian Wildlife
Division told the Indo–Asian News Service (IANS)