A breeding and conservation project for Indian Panther Hound, known for guarding encampments and livestock from predators, is set to begin in the picturesque valleys of Himachal Pradesh.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Himachal government will set up a ‘Conservation Cum Propagation Centre’ for Indian Panther Hound or ‘Gaddi dog’. The Centre will be established at College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (COVAS), Palampur in Kangra.
The project is aimed at scientific breeding of Gaddi dogs to conserve their pure germplasm. Under the project, the institute will conduct the study on phenotypic and molecular characterization of Gaddi dogs and the proposed breeding centre would also act as a commercialized venture by selling the pups of pure breed to the animal lovers.
According to the experts, with the declining trend of nomadic lifestyle of Gaddi sheep and goat rearers, the population of Gaddi dogs is also decreasing at an alarming rate in the region and it has become difficult to find a purebred Gaddi dog in the pockets of Western Himalayas.
The Gaddi dog is a breed of Himalayan dogs named after the nomadic Gaddi shepherds who used to rear them. The Gaddi dog, reared by shepherds as a guard dog accompanying flocks of sheep and goats, is also known for its fighting capabilities with snow leopards.
The breed is mainly found in northern India, especially the states in the Western Himalayan Region (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kashmir).
Prof HK Chaudhary, Vice Chancellor, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University (HPAU), Palampur while talking to The Pioneer said, “The Gaddi dog ‘Conservation cum Propagation unit’ will be established on scientific lines and adopting all measures pertaining to animal welfare. Purebred Gaddi male and females would be procured from the Gaddi nomads or other sources and will be maintained under scientific management practices after initial screening for any possible communicable diseases at the Centre.”
Elaborating about the project, Prof Chaudhary said, “At the Centre, all standard breeding, feeding, health and management protocols would be followed. After establishing the unit, the surplus pups of this breed will be provided to the interested animal lovers.”
A team led by Dr PK Dogra, Professor and Head, Department of Instructional Livestock Farm Complex, CSK HPAU is entrusted with the task to conduct the research and undertake the breeding and conservation project. Dr PK Dogra said, “Gaddi dogs in their breeding tract will be evaluated for the breed characteristics by taking physical and morphometric measurements. Blood samples will also be collected for the molecular characterization of this breed at the Centre.”
About the estimated population of the Gaddi dogs in Himachal, Dr Dogra said that no official data is available, but as per estimates the population of Gaddi dogs is less than 1000 now. Most of them do not correspond to pure breed characters and are mixed type and it is very difficult to find a pure Gaddi dog in the field now.
Around State, Gaddi dog breed is now endangered. The very cultural setting that once provided for the development and maintenance of shepherd dogs is now itself largely gone and can no longer foster the animal genetic resources that it spawned, Dr Dogra added.