Nearly 30 years ago, six tiny pygmy hogs were taken out of the grasslands of Manas in Assam.
There was a good reason. The species had come dangerously close to disappearing, and conservationists feared that leaving the few surviving animals in the wild could mean losing them altogether.
So, in 1996, six pygmy hogs were captured from the Kuribeel grasslands of Manas National Park to start a breeding programme.
This June, their descendants came home.
Fifteen captive-bred pygmy hogs, nine females and six males, were released into the same Kuribeel grasslands. No confirmed signs of the species had been recorded there for the past nine years.
For conservationists who have spent decades trying to bring the animal back from the brink, the release marked a powerful full-circle moment.
Six animals had once been taken from these grasslands to save their species. Today, their descendants are being returned to rebuild a wild population.
Six became 194
The June release was carried out under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP), which has been working to breed pygmy hogs and return them to suitable habitats in Assam.
Since 2020, six groups have been released in Manas alone. With the latest 15 animals, the number released in the national park has reached 78.
Across Assam, the programme has now bred and reintroduced 194 pygmy hogs.
That number carries particular weight for an animal that was once feared extinct.
The pygmy hog disappeared from much of its historical range during the 20th century and was thought to have vanished altogether before surviving populations were rediscovered.
Captive breeding gave the species a lifeline. The next challenge is much harder: helping these animals live, breed and form self-sustaining populations in the wild.
The pygmy hog is endemic to northeast India and was once widespread in the tall, wet grasslands of the Terai from Uttar Pradesh. Photograph: (A. J. T. Johnsingh, WWF-India and NCF)
And there are encouraging signs.
For the first time since the conservation programme began, wild-born pygmy hogs may now outnumber those living in captivity.
That is an important turning point. A species can truly recover when new generations begin surviving and reproducing in the habitat they evolved to live in.
The hogs returning to Kuribeel will now have to do exactly that.
Why this tiny pig matters
A pygmy hog is easy to miss.
Porcula salvania, India’s only endemic wild pig, is among the world’s rarest mammals. Its survival is closely tied to one particular landscape: the tall alluvial grasslands of the Himalayan foothills.
For the pygmy hog, these grasses are home. They provide places to hide, feed, build nests and raise young.
They are also fragile ecosystems.
Habitat loss, invasive plants and human disturbance have altered many of these grasslands. As they shrink or change, animals such as the pygmy hog lose the conditions they need to survive.
This is what makes the animal valuable far beyond its small size.
Conservationists consider the pygmy hog a flagship species for tall grasslands. If these hogs can survive and breed, it is a strong sign that the habitat around them is being protected and restored.
Saving the pygmy hog therefore also means protecting the grasslands it depends on.
And breeding more animals solves only one part of the puzzle. Each release needs suitable habitat waiting at the other end.
Could pygmy hogs return to more parts of India?
For now, much of the pygmy hog’s recovery story has centred on Assam. The next chapter could take the species farther across its former range.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has included the pygmy hog in its Species Recovery Programme, with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) serving as the nodal agency for the conservation project.
Over the next five years, the PHCP plans to release around 80 more pygmy hogs in Manas. Photograph: (Udayan Borthakur/Roundglass Sustain)
The idea is to strengthen existing populations, improve grassland habitats and study whether pygmy hogs could eventually return to places where they once lived.
Potential habitats being considered include Jaldapara in West Bengal and suitable areas in Uttar Pradesh.
Before any animals are released, scientists will need to study these landscapes carefully. They must understand whether enough suitable grassland remains, what threats exist and whether a new population could survive there over the long term.
The Wildlife Institute of India has already shared information on the species’ present status, captive breeding and conservation work with the government’s Wildlife Committee. The committee has recommended scientific assessments across the pygmy hog’s historical range.
In simple terms, the question has moved from “Can we save this species?” to “Can we help it return to more of the places it once called home?”
The journey is still unfolding
Back in Manas, the work continues.
Over the next five years, the PHCP plans to release around 80 more pygmy hogs into the national park. Its longer-term goal is to help build a wild population of around 300 animals by 2040.
The effort brings together the Assam Forest Department, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the IUCN SSC Wild Pig Specialist Group, Aaranyak and Ecosystems-India.
For all the organisations, breeding centres and scientific planning involved, the story ultimately comes down to something remarkably simple.
In 1996, conservationists looked at a species with very few animals left and decided there was still time to save it.
They began with six.
Three decades later, the number of pygmy hogs bred and released has reached 194, and descendants of those first animals are walking through Kuribeel once again.
Their future now rests in the grasslands.
If those landscapes remain healthy enough for the pygmy hogs to feed, shelter and raise their young, a species once pushed towards extinction may once again become a familiar part of the wild places it came from.
