Context

• Recently, Eight of 12 captive-bred pygmy hogs, the world’s rarest and smallest wild pigs, were released in the Manas National Park of western Assam. 

Key Details

• This is the second batch to have been reintroduced into the wild under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) in a year. 
  • The PHCP is a collaboration among Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust of UK, Assam Forest Department, Wild Pig Specialist Group of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Union Environment Ministry and is currently being implemented by NGOs Aaranyak and EcoSystems India.
• Six hogs were captured from the Bansbari range of the Manas National Park in 1996 for starting the breeding programme. The reintroduction programme began in 2008 with the Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary (35 hogs), Orang National Park (59) and Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary (22).

About Pygmy Hogs

• The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is a suid native to alluvial grasslands in the foothills of the Himalayas at elevations of up to 300 m (980 ft).
• Today, the only known population lives in Assam, India and possibly southern Bhutan. 
• Protection
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
  • CITES: Appendix I

Source: TH

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