The pygmy hog has brought laurels for a conservationist and his team in Assam. Renowned conservationist from Assam and project director of the State’s Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) Goutam Narayan was honoured with the Harry Messel Award for Conservation leadership during the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s species survival commission leaders’ meeting held recently.
The IUCN conferred the prestigious award to the conservationist in recognition of his pivotal role on leading the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme in North-Eastern India since 1995, thus saving the species from extinction.
It may be mentioned here that the Harry Messel Award recognises exemplary service to the IUCN Species Survival Commission, especially from individuals who have made a specific contribution to species conservation on the ground or through their leadership.
About 25 cm tall, the pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is world’s smallest and rarest wild suid. The bullet-shaped pygmy hog was once widely found in the wet grasslands of the Himalayan foothills stretching from Uttar Pradesh to Assam, through Nepal terai and Bengal duars.
However, they are confined to a few pockets along Assam’s border with Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh and the only viable population of the species exists in the Manas Tiger Reserve. The IUCN has accorded critically endangered status to the pygmy hog, which has also been listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act.
The pygmy hog’s habitat is endangered by human settlements, agricultural encroachments, cattle grazing, flood control schemes, planting of trees in the grasslands, and indiscriminate use of fire to clear grasslands for fresh growth of grass.
Goutam said that the pygmy hog species was believed to have lost during the 1961. “However, the animal was rediscovered in 1971 in Assam, but no detailed surveys were done until 1978, by which time only about five pygmy hog populations were left. Recommendations for the conservation of the grassland habitats were sent to the State and Central Governments, but there was little action and four of the populations vanished,” he said.
“In 1996, captive breeding was started at Manas National Park, but the animals could not be released into the wild due to non-availability of safe habitat. So far we have been able to breed about 94 pygmy hogs and released in different habitats in Assam,” he said, adding that the captive-bred hogs were first released at the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in 2008.
Narayan expressed happiness for the award and credited his team for the conservation success. “It has always been a team work and different people are working on the project differently. There are about 10 to 15 people working in the project at present and they all deserve the credit,” he said.