Pygmy Hog likely to come under India’s species recovery programme: Environment Ministry

Wildlife experts deliberated on the decision to expand conservation efforts for Pygmy Hog, the smallest and rarest wild pig, at the national level and include them in India’s species recovery programme, according to officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The matter was discussed during the 91st meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (SC-NBWL), chaired by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, held at Coimbatore on Thursday.

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Resident of India’s tall grass wetlands, this wild pig is in grave danger, with only a few hundred—probably fewer than 250—remaining in the wild, despite earlier conservation efforts.

Historically, they ranged across a narrow belt of grassland south of the Himalayan foothills in Uttar Pradesh, Nepal, Bihar, North Bengal, and Assam. However, today they survive only in the grasslands of Assam’s Manas and Orang national parks.

Pygmy Hog’s numbers dropped significantly over the years due to habitat loss caused by uncontrolled grass burning, illegal cattle grazing and rapid changes in dwelling areas.

The Board said that considering the Pygmy Hog—a critically endangered species, India’s only endemic wild pig and a flagship species for protecting alluvial grassland ecosystems—there is a strong case for starting a national-level conservation programme.

The project will target securing existing populations, restoring suitable habitats, and facilitating the species’ recovery across its historical range, the board stated in its meeting agenda.

Board’s decision on whether the Pygmy Hog will be listed under the Species Recovery Programme aided by the Central Government Scheme, Development of Wildlife Habitats, is yet to be notified.

Assam Forest Department, in collaboration with international conservation groups, launched the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) as early as 1995 to rescue this species. Over the last 20 years, 179 pigs were reintroduced into four protected areas in Assam, while PHCP maintained around 90 hogs in captivity.

However, these efforts remain geographically limited ( particularly in and around Manas National Park) and do not adequately address the restoration of the species across its historical range, noted the NBWL Committee.

To restore the hog’s numbers over its historical range, the ministry is considering a national level conservation programme, the Board said.