On Saturday, eighteen captive-bred pygmy hogs, the world’s rarest and smallest pig species, were reintroduced into Manas National Park in Assam under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP). This marks the fourth such reintroduction in Manas, their original home, and brings the total number of hogs released there in the past four years to 54.
The PHCP is a collaboration between Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, IUCN/SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, Assam Forest Department, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ecosystems-India, and wildlife NGO Aaranyak, and is aimed at bringing this endangered species back from the brink after it was thought to be extinct in the 1970s.
Manas Field Director Rajen Choudhury expressed his joy at the pygmy hogs’ reintroduction, saying it would help in the rewilding of the park’s grasslands, as well as benefit its associated species like the Bengal florican, hispid hare, hog deer, and rhino. Aaranyak CEO Bibhab Kumar Talukdar noted that the successful release of 54 hogs into Manas was a landmark achievement considering the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic and African swine fever over the past three years.
He also mentioned that the continued reintroduction efforts in Manas will help to not only build the population, but also secure the animal’s home. The Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme began in 1996 when two males and two females were captured from the Bansbari range of Manas. The Orang National Park is another site where the hogs were reintroduced, with fifty-nine of them released between 2011 and 2015.
The reintroductions have proven 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 alluvial grasslands in the Himalayan foothills, pygmy hogs are incredibly shy and secretive creatures, hiding in tall, dense grass which makes monitoring them difficult.
