Hog in the limelight: On Assam’s pygmy hog programme

The decline of the pygmy hog — the sole surviving species of the genus Porcula and the world’s smallest wild suid — is a narrative about the decline of India’s alluvial floodplains. The pygmy hog depends significantly on dense grasslands to feed, conceal itself, and reproduce, so distress among these animals is an indicator of the floodplain suffering degradation. Protecting the pygmy hog can also extend protections to threatened species such as the Bengal florican, hispid hare, hog deer, and greater one-horned rhinoceros. The Assam government was recently right to laud the efforts of a captive breeding programme that increased the pygmy hog population in the State 32-fold in the last three decades. Breeding from a small founder stock while preventing diseases — suids are highly susceptible to swine diseases — and inbreeding requires conservationists to track pedigree, follow biosafety protocols, and condition individuals before release.