00:00In the heart of Kashmir, where mountains whisper stories and rivers carry the pulse of the valley,
00:12lies the wilderness of unparalleled legacy, Dachigam National Park.
00:18Over a century ago, in 1910, Maharaja Hari Singh recognized this land,
00:24not only as a royal hunting ground, but as a cradle of life.
00:27A catchment for Srinagar's fresh water, a lung for the valley.
00:34Half of Dal Lake's catchment flows from here.
00:38Its silence holds the roar of stags once so loud they echoed through the night skies.
00:47But Dachigam's path has not been smooth.
00:51The aftermath of independence saw neglect, poaching and overgrazing.
00:57From 3,000 hangul to just a few hundred, nature's rhythm nearly fell silent.
01:03Yet, out of crisis, emerged commitment.
01:12Scientists, conservationists and forest officers, from the earliest visionaries to today's field staff,
01:19stood guard, often in anonymity, against the tide of time.
01:23Each step taken in Dachigams, every patrol, every census, every fence and fireline, was a step to reclaim hope.
01:32Today, Dachigam is not just a park.
01:40It is a symbol.
01:41A living, breathing testimony of resilience.
01:44Of harmony between man and nature.
01:46It is the last refuge of the hangul, the critically endangered Kashmir red deer, and the UT animal of Jammu and Kashmir.
01:57This park holds the last viable population of this majestic species on the planet.
02:09The park's altitude, ranging from 1,600 to 4,250 meters, supports alpine pastures, temperate forests, and glacial streams.
02:19It is home to Asiatic black bears, leopards, and rare birds, like the orange bullfinch, and Kashmir flycatcher, and butterflies found nowhere else.
02:38Its ecological wealth, forest types, flora, fauna, forms the beating heart of Kashmir's biodiversity.
02:45This achievement, of being ranked number one in India's Management Effectiveness Evaluation, belongs not to one era, but to every hand that toiled in silence.
02:58Dachigam teaches us, when vision meets perseverance, nature rewards us with grace, beauty, and survival.
03:28of time that to live and joy, disappointments willela.
