By Gautom Narayan and Shravani Hazarika
Guwahati and Bangkok, Thailand
INTRODUCTION
The Pigmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) is a broad based research and conservation programme with aims to save the smallest and the rarest wild suid in the world, the pygmy hog Sus salvanius. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has accorded this species the highest priority rating of all Suiformes, and it is considered to be amongst the most endangered (Status Category 6 - Critically Endangered) of all mammals (IUCN 1988, Anon. 1985). It is also listed in the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
BRIEF
The Pigmy Hog (Sus salvanius) is the smallest and the rarest wild suid in the world. Today, it is at the brink of extinction, as only a few isolated and small populations survive in the wild. In the past, they were found in the tall, wet grasslands in the Himalayan foothills from Uttar Pradesh to Assam, through Nepal terai and Bengal duars. Currently, however, they are restricted to a few pockets along Assam’s border with Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, the only viable population of the species exists in the Manas Tiger Reserve and nowhere else in the world. The main threats to survival of pigmy hog are loss and degradation of habitat due to human settlements, agricultural encroachments, flood control schemes, and improper management. Some management practices, such as planting of trees in the grasslands and indiscriminate use of fire to create openings and to promote fresh growth of grass, have caused extensive damage to the habitats the authorities intend to protect. The survival of pigmy hogs is closely linked to the existence of the tall, wet grasslands of the region which, besidesbeing a highly threatened habitat itself, is also crucial for survival of a number endangered species such as the onehorned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), tiger (Panthera tigris), swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli), wild buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), Bengal florican (Eupodotis bengalensis) and Assam roof turtle (Kachuga sylhetensis). The pigmy hog is one of the most useful indicators of current wildlife management practices in these habitats as it has disappeared from grasslands which still support some other species. It is therefore important to understand why it is disappearing faster than other less sensitive species and take remedial actions if we wish to preserve the original habitats in their pristine state and with optimal diversity. This will eventually benefit all species of these threatened habitats. Preserving these important habitats, which are one of the richest in the Indian subcontinent in terms of their biodiversity, will also help in maintaining long term ecological and economic well being of the region. It is therefore essential to formulate a properly structured action plan to save the species from extinction. This includes:
- conservation breeding of the species with aims to reintroduce them to selected sites from where they have disappeared as well as an insurance against the possible early extinction of the species in the wild;
- upgrading the (legal as well as actual) protection status of the above sites; field research to plan ideal management practices for maintenance of optimal diversity of these habitats and mechanism to implement the recommendations of such studies;
- reintroduction of viable number of pigmy hogs for their long term survival
- in the wild, monitoring the reintroduced populations; and
- monitoring and modifying management practices to promote survival of all original inhabitants of such habitats.
THE ON GOING PROGRAMME
The Pigmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) is a broad based research and conservation programme which aims to fulfill at least some of the above requirements. This important recovery programme for the highly threatened species and their equally endangered habitats is being conducted under the aegis of a formal International Conservation Management and Research Agreement (ICMRA), signed at New Delhi on 16 February 1995 between IUCN/SSC Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos Specialist Group, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT, formerly Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust), the Forest Department of the Government of Assam, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The implementation of this agreement, the first of its kind in India, is being undertaken by PHCP, with funds provided by the European Union and DWCT. It must be expressly mentioned that the only aim of this collaborative programme i s conservation of the pigmy hogs and other endangered species of tall grasslands of the region through field research, captive breeding and reintroduction after adequate restoration of degraded former habitats. The project has absolutely no commercial interest. The above Agreement stipulates that ownership of all pigmy hogs bred in captivity would lie with the Government of Assam, till perpetuity. Translocation and reintroduction of any such animal is possible only with mutual consent of the agencies involved
CONSERVATION BREEDING
One of the main objectives of the Programme is to establish a well structured conservation breeding project for pigmy hogs as an insurance against the possible early extinction of the species in the wild and as a source of animals for reintroduction projects. Currently 77 hogs (40 males and 37 females) are present at the Research and Breeding Centre. Despite selective breeding and restraints to avoid breeding among related individuals, this thirteen-fold increase in the captive population in just five years is indicative of the success of the project. Like any other modern captivebreeding programme, it is necessary to carry out DNA studies to determine relatedness among the wild caught and the wild sired individuals to maximize the genetic heterozygosity in captive population for its long term survival. Besides genetic studies, introduction of a few more wild animals into the captive population may also be required for the same reason.
A second breeding centre is being planned in collaboration with the Assam Valley Wildlife Society, which will be located near Nameri National Park and close to some of the reintroduction sites. Since the animals at Basistha Centre are the only captive pigmy hogs in the world, the second breeding centre will also be an insurance against any catastrophe at the present location.
Contributed by Goutam Narayan
Pigmy Hog Conservation Programme,
Near DFO (SF)
Indiranagar, Basistha, Guwahati
781029, Assam
Phone (0361) 2301515, 2301516, 2224646
Mobile (0) 98640 63637 E-mail phog@sancharnet.in
- Log in to post comments