Captive-bred pygmy hogs to be relocated; Guwahati, India - May 12, 2008

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Captive-bred pygmy hogs to be relocated

 

 

Guwahati, May 12, 2008, By Our Correspondent, The AssamTribune

 

GUWAHATI, May 11, 2008 – In what is

being projected as a landmark event in the conservation history of the country,

a total of 16 pygmy hogs, which is one of the most endangered mammals in the

world, would soon be relocated in the grasslands of Sonai Rupai wildlife

sanctuary. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF,

Wildlife) MC Malakar informed this during a press conference here at the

Guwahati Press Club today.

 

The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is the world’s smallest pig standing about

25-30 cm from the ground, and was once common across India, Nepal and Bhutan.

However, by the 1960s, this mammal was believed to be extinct.

 

“The pygmy hogs were bred at the Guwahati-based Pygmy Hog Conservation

Programme (PHCP) research and breeding centre at Basistha near Guwahati before

being transferred to a specially constructed pre-release facility in Potasali

near the Nameri National Park,” stated Malakar.

 

The PHCP is a collaborative project of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust,

World Conservation Union’s Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos Specialist Group (PPHSG),

Assam Forest Department and the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

 

About 75 pygmy hogs were bred at PHCP from six wild pygmy hogs brought from

Manas National Park in 1996.

 

“Under the soft release procedure, these hogs were maintained in large

‘pre-release’ enclosures for five months and have now been transferred to final

release enclosure in Sonai Rupai. The new population of the released hogs would

be monitored using direct and indirect methods,” he said.

 

“It is a successful conservation project of pygmy hogs by saving them from

extinction. The Sonai Rupai wildlife sanctuary is already a habitat for pygmy

hogs, and we are happy that the species have been reintroduced there,” Malakar

opined.

 

It needs mention here that until 1977, pygmy hogs were believed to have gone

extinct. But an extensive study conducted by PPHSG chairperson William Oliver in

1977 confirmed the existence of pygmy hogs in the North-Western part of Assam.

 

Oliver was instrumental in formulating pygmy hog conservation action plan,

which was accepted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Oliver said, “ This is a historic development and it

would set a very good precedent, which can be emulated for other species as

well.”

 

“The practice of indiscriminate dry season annual burning and uncontrolled

livestock grazing threatened the last population of the pygmy hog in Manas and,

if continued, it may affect many other threatened and sensitive grassland

species,” Oliver pointed out.

 

Gautam Narayan of EcoSystems-India, a partner NGO in the conservation project,

was also present on the occasion.

 

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=may1208/at09

 

Endangered pygmy hogs released into wild

May 09, 2008, By Paul Eccleston, Telegraph, UK

 

Numbers of a critically endangered species of wild pig are

to be boosted following the success of a captive breeding programme.

 

PHOTO: The pygmy hog is the world's smallest pig

Three small families of the pygmy hog will be released back

into wild grasslands in Assam in north east India.

The 16 animals are the result of the only captive population of

the species in the world.

The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is the world's smallest pig

standing about 25-30 cm from the ground, and was once common across India,

Nepal, and Bhutan but by the 1960s was thought to be extinct.

Its preferred grassland habitat across the southern foothills

of the Himalayas was swallowed up by human encroachment,

livestock grazing and grass burning but in 1971, the species was rediscovered

in Assam.

In 1995 the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, founded by

naturalist Gerald Durrell, and other conservation groups set up the Pygmy Hog

Conservation Programme to ensure the species survived.

A breeding centre was established at Basistha near the Assam capital, Dispur

with the aim of raising a captive population that could

eventually be released back in to the wild. The programme is supported through

a grant from the UK government's Darwin Initiative.

Six wild hogs - two males and four females)- captured from

Manas, Assam,

in March 1996 formed the basis of the breeding programme.

John Fa, Director of Conservation Science for Durrell, said:

" The breeding was a significant success and within five years the captive

population rose to 77. A young wild hog rescued from a river in Manas was also

added to the stock in 2001 and we currently have 79 pygmy hogs, which is the

only captive population of the species in the world. "

The three small family groups of hogs have been held in a

pre-release site established at Potasali near Nameri National Park, Assam.

It contains large enclosures similar to the hogs' natural

grassland habitat where the animals have been kept for the past 18 weeks.

The enclosures have allowed the animals to become used to the

conditions they will face in the wild and has reduce their contact with humans.

Durrell and its local partners EcoSystems-India, along with

other local non-governmental organisations, including Aaranyak, and the Centre

for Environment Education, have been working closely with local communities to

improve awareness about the species and the management of tallgrass habitats to

give the hogs the best chance of survival in the wild.

The pygmy hog acts as an indicator for the state of the

tallgrass habitat, which is crucial for the survival of a number of other

endangered species such as the swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli), wild buffalo

(Bubalus bubalis), hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus) and Bengal florican

(Houbaropsis bengalensis).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/05/09/eahog109.xml

 

 

ALSO SEE:

 

Pygmy Hog

From Wikipedia,

the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_Hog