GUWAHATI: Eighteen captive-bred pygmy hogs, the world’s rarest and smallest pig species, were reintroduced into Manas National Park in Assam on Saturday under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP).
This was the fourth such reintroduction in Manas, their original home. Overall, 54 hogs were released here in the past four years.
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, Assam Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ecosystems-India and wildlife NGO Aaranyak collaborated for the PHCP. It is aimed at bringing back this endangered species back from the brink after it was thought to be extinct in the 1970s.
Manas Field Director Rajen Choudhury said he was happy to welcome the pygmy hogs.
“It will boost the rewilding of Manas’ grasslands and also bring back its glory. The park management is investing more in scientific management of the grassland. We hope this management will help in securing the future of the reintroduced pygmy hogs and they will establish their home here. It will also help all the grassland associated species, like the Bengal florican, hispid hare, hog deer and rhino,” Choudhury said.
Aaranyak said the successful release of 54 hogs into Manas was a landmark achievement considering the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic and African swine fever in the last three years.
Aaranyak’s CEO Bibhab Kumar Talukdar said the continued reintroduction efforts in Manas would help not only in population building but also investing more in securing their home.
Work under PHCP started in 1996 when two male and two female hogs were captured from the Bansbari range of Manas.
The Orang National Park is another site where the hogs were reintroduced. Fifty-nine of them were released between 2011 and 2015. The reintroductions were considered successful as the animal’s population is now estimated to be 130.
The lifespan of a pygmy hog in the wild is around seven years, so this population is believed to be made up of entirely wild born hogs.
Native to the alluvial grasslands in the foothills of the Himalayas, pygmy hogs are extremely shy and secretive in the wild. They remain hidden in tall dense grass, which makes monitoring challenging.