The population of the endangered markhor wild goat has risen by 71 per cent over two decades in the rugged Kazinag region along the Line of Control, according to a new assessment. The impact report was prepared jointly by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the J&K Department of Wildlife Protection. It matters because the markhor is found in India only in Jammu and Kashmir.
What the numbers say
The report puts the 2026 Kazinag estimate at 227 animals, give or take 13.9. The 71 per cent figure is measured against a 2005 baseline of 133 animals. In plain terms, the herd is now about three-quarters larger than when systematic monitoring began.
The recent gain is small. The 2026 estimate is only slightly above the 221 recorded in 2023. The long-term path has not been a straight line either. Estimates were 152 in 2010, 142 in 2012, 187 in 2016 and 184 in 2018, before the rise to 221 in 2023.
The strongest sign is breeding. The survey recorded 69 kids per 100 adult females, which the report reads as successful breeding and survival of young animals. It also found 33 males per 100 females, and 48 groups averaging about five animals each.
How the count was done
Surveying this ground is hard work. Kazinag National Park lies along the Line of Control in north Kashmir, where rugged terrain, security restrictions and difficult access make monitoring a challenge. Field teams monitored 12 permanent trails over four years, covering more than 2,000 kilometres. They logged 600 direct sightings across Kazinag National Park, Limber and Lachipora wildlife sanctuaries and Naganari Conservation Reserve.
What this means for India
The markhor is a Schedule I species under India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and in India this subspecies lives only in Jammu and Kashmir. The Kazinag result shows that a species can recover in a sensitive border landscape through steady, repeated monitoring by a government department working with a conservation NGO. It is also a reminder that the gains are modest and need continued effort.
Background and what remains uncertain
The recovery began from a very low base. WTI’s Kashmir Markhor Recovery Project works on a species once thought extinct in Jammu and Kashmir. Surveys that began in 2004, with the wildlife department and the Indian Army, found only two populations, Kazinag and Pir Panjal, totalling around 250 animals. The species is now listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
The good news in Kazinag should not be read as a verdict on the whole of Kashmir. The report gives no comparable population estimate for Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary, so it cannot show a rise or fall there. It instead looks at habitat suitability, livestock pressure and conservation measures. A January 2026 handout from the census programme said the species’ population in J&K has fallen by nearly 60 per cent since 1947, with livestock grazing, infrastructure and habitat fragmentation among the causes.
For now, the report says continued collaboration between WTI and the wildlife department will remain essential for securing the markhor’s long-term future in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources
- Against the odds, rare markhor stages 71% comeback in Kashmir’s LoC landscape
- Kazinag Markhor population hits 227, up 71% from 2005 baseline
- Kazinag Markhor population rises to 227, markhor numbers up 71% from 2005 baseline
- Slight rise in near-threatened markhor population: Survey
- Kashmir Markhor Recovery Project – Wildlife Trust of India
- Markhor census 2025-26 prep begins in Kashmir
