GUWAHATI: Eighteen captive-bred pygmy hogs, the smallest and rarest pigs on earth, were released in western Assam’s Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve on Saturday, October 30.
It was the fourth such exercise undertaken under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) annually since 2020, helping up the total number of this critically endangered species released at the park to 54.
The PHCP target is to reintroduce 60 pygmy hogs in Manas, its historical habitat, by 2025.
“The release of more pygmy hogs in their original home will boost the rewilding of Manas, where we are investing more in the scientific management of grasslands. Apart from securing the future of the reintroduced pygmy hog, the management will also help grassland-associated species such as the Bengal florican, hispid hare, hog deer, and rhino,” Rajen Choudhury, the field director of Manas said.
Once thriving across the alluvial grasslands along the southern edge of the Himalayas, the pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) was thought to be extinct in the 1970s.
Backed by the United Kingdom-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the PHCP was started near Guwahati in 1996 with two males and two females captured from the Bansbari Range of Manas National Park. The reintroduction of the captive-bred hogs to the wild began in 2008.
The PHCP has so far successfully bred and reintroduced 170 pygmy hogs that belong to a unique genus without any close relatives. Standing about 25 cm from the ground and weighing 6-9 kg, it lives in small groups of up to eight individuals and builds thatch nests rather than farrow like other pigs.
Wild-born hogs
Prior to the releases in Manas, the PHCP selected other appropriate grasslands in Assam for reintroducing the pygmy hog. One such site is the 80 sq. km Orang National Park, situated about 120 km southeast of Manas and home to a sizeable number of tigers, elephants, and rhinos.
Wildlife officials said 59 pygmy hogs were released in Orang between 2011 and 2015. The population of the mammal in this park on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River is now estimated at 130.
“This population is likely to be made up of entirely wild-born pigs as the extremely shy and secretive pygmy hog’s lifespan in the wild is around 7 years,” Parag Jyoti Deka, the PHCP’s project director said.
“The results of the Orang camera trap and sign surveys show the real impact that our captive breeding and release programmes can have towards saving species from extinction,” he added.
As part of its rewilding strategy, the PHCP will continue to maintain a population of about 80 captive hogs at its two centres in Assam and breed more hogs for release. The strategy for monitoring hogs after their release continues to develop, Dr Deka said.
The partners of the pygmy hog captive-breeding and rewilding programme are the IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, Assam Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forests, and Ecosystems-India. The Assam-based Aaranyak is the delivery partner of the programme.