Keibul lamjao and sangai

Manipur’s iconic Loktak Lake, the Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), to see a rare deer.

The Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world, is home to the last of the brow-antlered deer (Rucervus eldii eldii), one of the most endangered deer in the world. It’s not certain how many survive in the 40 sq. km KLNP. A head count in April last year put the number at 204. This year, according to the park’s field director, there haven’t been enough funds for a proper count. The Wildlife Institute of India believes the figure could be much less. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, it estimated the deer population at 90, 88 and 92, respectively.

The brow-antlered deer, or sangai, is the state animal. The word is ubiquitous—it can be found on shop signage, cafés, clubs, a regional daily newspaper, even at an annual tourism festival. “The sangai is an integral part of the sociocultural and economic life of the Manipuri people but ironically, the deer is not protected,” says Dinabandhu Sahoo, director, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), department of biotechnology, Imphal.

The animal is, in fact, in danger of losing its home—most of the phumdis, or floating swamps, are unable to sustain its weight. A barrage has changed the hydrology of the lake area; the vegetation is changing and choking its food supply. Farming is eating into its space.

“Today, the sangai survives in a unique habitat within Manipur. Survival of the phumdi is extremely important for the long-term survival of the sangai, and a second home for this deer needs to be established in the state,” says Ravi Singh, secretary general and CEO, WWF-India.

In the past year, two national- level consultative meetings and workshops have been organized to discuss conservation and sustainable management of this species, little known perhaps to people outside the region.

The first, in August, was