GUWAHATI: Eight of 12 captive-bred pygmy hogs, the world’s rarest and smallest wild pigs, were on Tuesday released in the Manas National Park of lower Assam by the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP).
The remaining four will be released on June 25.
This is the second time pygmy hogs have been reintroduced in Manas after the successful release of 14 of them last year.
By 2025, the PHCP plans to release a target of 60 pygmy hogs in Manas.
The species now returns to their home where their last original population still survives, albeit in declined numbers.
Experts said this release is a landmark achievement and is the key step on the road for establishment of a new sub-population of pygmy hogs in Manas National Park.
In 1995, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey, UK partnered with Forest Department, Government of Assam, IUCN, Wild Pig Specialist Group and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India and formed PHCP which is being implemented with the PHCP’s key partner Aaranyak and EcoSystems India.
Six hogs – two males and four females — were captured from the Bansbari range of Manas National Park in 1996 to start the highly successful breeding programme.
The reintroduction of captive hogs in the wild began in 2008 in three protected areas- Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary (35 hogs), Orang National Park (59 hogs) and Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary(22 hogs).
With this release, the total number of pygmy hogs reintroduced into the wild by the PHCP has reached 142 (67 males, 75 females) which is more than their current global population.
Amal Chandra Sarma, Field Director, Manas Tiger Reserve stated that, “In recent years, Manas is really doing well in conservation and with the release of these hogs in Bhuyanpara range, the hog population will increase and this may attract more visitors to the park.”