Explained: How do India's different states choose their state animals?

How did the Nilgai get selected as Delhi's state animal? How do states choose their state animals? Read here

If you have been to the Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus, you are sure to have spotted a strange beast somewhere halfway between a cow and a deer. You’ll also find it at the Delhi ridge. This is the Nilgai, also known as Boselaphus tragocamelus, and till not too long ago, the state animal of New Delhi. The Nilgai however is set to lose its status as Delhi’s state animal. The Delhi Forest Department has said that while Delhi has a state bird, the House Sparrow, no document is available on declaring the state animal and tree as per official records.

So how did the Nilgai get selected as Delhi’s state animal? How do states choose their state animals?

A state animal is declared based on the uniqueness of the animal to that region, their abundance, endangered status, or whether they are native to the region. For instance, the Ladakh Union Territory administration announced the snow leopard as its state animal and the black-necked crane as its state bird in September 2021. The black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh’s high-altitude wetlands and marshes. They arrive in Ladakh in March for breeding and migrate by October end or early November. It is mostly listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. There are 500 snow leopards in India of which nearly 300 are in Ladakh alone.

The practice of naming a particular animal or bird as an emblem of the state goes back to the 1970s. The idea was to draw special attention to species endemic to certain regions of the country, and therefore help in their conservation as part of the state’s natural heritage. Most states have a state animal and state bird.

Some like Punjab also have a state aquatic animal. Then-Chief Minister Amarinder Singh declared the Indus Dolphin, one of the world’s rarest mammals, as Punjab’s ‘State Aquatic Animal’ in 2019.

Others like Rajasthan have a ‘state wild animal’, the Chinkara or Indian Gazelle, while its ‘State Animal’ is the Dromedary Camel.

How does this affect the conversation of animals? And once how does the declaration of state animals affect the economy around these animals?

As far as conservation goes there have been hits and misses. When in 1975, the Sangai or brow-antlered deer of Manipur was declared the state animal, there were only 14 such deer left. However, following the declaration, people started to own the Sangai. Today, it is an icon of Manipur. You have shops, taxi stands, squares, fairs, and even the largest daily in circulation in Imphal named after the deer. There are more than 200 Sangai now in the state.

On the other hand, the Hangul — the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir — has seen a sharp decline in its number since the beginning of the 20th century. The deer’s population lies somewhere between 100 and 261m a significant decline from the early 1900s when the population of the hangul was estimated to be around 5000. Those studying and monitoring the deer are now concerned that this critically endangered species could soon face extinction.

Despite declaring the wild buffalo as its state animal, Chhattisgarh has not been able to increase its numbers.

Moreover, declaring an animal or bird species as a state emblem can create other problems too. When Rajasthan declared the camel as its state animal recently, it was hoping to arrest the declining population of camels. It also included camel milk in its food security programme.

This backfired, however, causing a strong reaction from camel herders and farmers. The government did clarify that the law will not restrict the rearing and use of animals for routine activities nor will trading the animal in fairs will be an offense.

However, members of Rajasthan’s Raibari community which subsists primarily on the rearing of camels in the state had staged several protests stating the government’s ban on trading and migration, will cause a faster decline in camel population since food for camels is not available in Rajasthan round the year and the animals are needed to be transported beyond the state border for mating. Nevertheless, over the years the law has reduced the sale and purchase of camels to slaughterhouses. The government is now focusing on making more quality feed and fodder available for the “ship of the desert” in the state.