A last waltz, with pygmy hogs
Day 13Even on our last ½ day in Guwahati, our efficient Eastern Himalayas team had us booked. Our last official stop of the trip was to a breeding center for the Critically Endangered pygmy hog on the outskirts of the city.
Certainly one of your cuter wild hogs—and the world’s smallest — the pygmy hog is not doing well as a species. According to the IUCN, the only viable population is the few hundred that live in small pockets in Manas National Park and an adjacent reserve forest.
CEPF grantee Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has been trying to give the hogs a hand through a captive breeding program. CEPF is just one of the funders behind a $1 million effort that began in 1995 and includes a breeding center, pre-release and reintroduction sites, research, community outreach, livelihood promotion, and training and equipping of community and government field staff. CEPF funds are being used for field staff training, community outreach, field research and equipment. The project’s primary focus is on preserving the Terai grasslands of Manas, on which the pygmy hog and other species depend.
The project also involves assessing the degree to which people are dependent on the grasslands, and developing alternatives for them, including alternatives to fuel wood and thatch.
At times the area has fallen victim to a complete breakdown in law and order, Project Coordinator Goutam Narayan told us, with some local people exploiting the forest. It can be a dangerous place for anyone opposing the illegal activities, he said.
“People are dying every day in Bodoland, and more Bodos than anybody else in this internal conflict,” he said. “People from the nearby villages have come to us and asked if we can do something for them. Whatever we’re doing, we’re doing in exchange for better conservation.”
thanksWith CEPF money, Durrell has acquired electric fencing for elephant control to alleviate human-wildlife conflict and damage to property and cash crops in the fringe villages. Durrell has also helped residents and forest department staff to get things like solar panels and field equipment to help meet their needs and gain their cooperation.
They need all the help they can get if they are going to have a chance to turn things around for the pygmy hog. “There is one last population of pygmy hog in Manas. It’s the world’s last population. We have to improve the habitat. The species is an indicator of grassland health. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for many species.”
Meanwhile the captive breeding program is making progress. Three areas have been targeted for re-introduction of pygmy hogs resulting from the breeding program. As of
December, Durrell had released 25 pygmy hogs in Sonai Rupai Wildlfe Sanctuary (the progeny of six taken from the wild in Manas). They maintain enough captive pygmy hogs to release 10 to 15 per year.
“They’re cute, but are powerful, like small tanks,” Goutam said, noting that it takes more than one person to catch one. “They’re very strong.”
Durrell also has worked with a local veterinary college to help students develop into wildlife veterinarians while helping care for the pygmy hogs at the breeding center.
Networking 'til the end
We parted ways with our long-time caretaker and companion Sarala, took a brief tour of the breeding center, then took off for the Guwahati airport, thinking our tour of conservation efforts in the region was over. Not long after we had settled in at the airport to wait for our flight, we were approached by a man who turned out to also be involved in conservation work in the area. He was referred to us by the Eastern Himalayas team, who realized both parties were at the airport at the same time.
That seemed a fitting end to our visit to the region — one last example of the eager and enthusiastic conservationists in the region using every opportunity to network with us and inform us of the needs and successes in protecting the nature of the region. I’ve never encountered people more devoted to this purpose than those on the Eastern Himalayas team and their colleagues in the region. And I don’t know that I’ve ever met a more tight-knit group of colleagues. Beyond their sincere commitment to their professions, they seem to have developed remarkably strong friendships with each other, and often with the people in the communities and protected areas where they work.
I left the area knowing much more about the extreme challenges and difficult situations faced by the people and nature of the region, but at the same time feeling inspired and optimistic, knowing they are in caring and dedicated hands.
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