Remote Assam wildlife sanctuary carves out success story
Crippled by problems of encroaching and poachers, the Sonai-Rupai animal sanctuary in the remote Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border has carved out a success story for itself with sound wildlife management.
Unlike other national parks and game reserves in the state that have languished over the years due to poaching and other ailments, the nearly 200 sq km sanctuary till today boasts of housing a variety of animals as well as valuable timber.
Situated on the picturesque river bank of Gabharu and only about an hour's drive from Sonitpur district headquarters of Tezpur, the sanctuary has sufficient grasslands to house elephants, rhinos, leopards and a host of other animals.
Moreover the unique climatic condition of the area helps in the growth of valuable wood and medicinal plants. The sanctuary is also a haven for migratory birds apart from a host of big birds living inside the forest area including the peacock, hornbills and owls.
However, the jewel in the crown for the reserve forest, which was declared a sanctuary in 1998, is the addition of the rarest and smallest breed of wild pig, known as pigmy hog and the animals have found a natural home in the sanctuary.
Gautam Narayan, regarded as the father figure for the pygmy hogs which had once faced near extinction, says the release programme first initiated in 2008 has ever since been a a tremendous success.
Narayan who heads the Pygmy Hogs Conservation Programme (PHCP) in the outskirts of Guwahati city is instrumental in bringing the rare animal out of extinction from its isolated pockets in the Manas National Park and Barnadi wildlife sanctuary.
Starting the PHCP way back in 1996 with only three males and four females brought from the Manas National Park, the centre now boasts of nearly a hundred of the highly endangered species and many of them are set to make Sonai-Rupai their home.
"Yes we have conducted a ground survey which suggests that release of the pygmy hogs in Sonai Rupai was ideal and thus started the programme since 2008 and 20 of them are in the wild", Narayan told PTI.
The pygmy hog, world's smallest and rarest breed of wild pig facing extinction worldwide, has a height of about 25 cm and weighs about six to nine kilograms.
Recalling his days in 1996, Narayan said the PHCP helped the animal in captive breeding and now it was in a position to release the animals in their natural habitats.
Narayan says the pygmy hogs was an important indicator species and there was an urgent need to know the reasons for its fast disappearance from the wilderness.
Narayan says releasing the animals into the wild is an arduous task and every care has to be taken to ensure total success.
"The pygmy hogs are extremely shy and delicate animals and proper care has to be taken in terms of their age and their ability to thrive in the wilderness before deciding them to release in the wild", he says.
"the aim of the captive breeding centre at Basistha was to help in the growth of animals in the wild as it was not always possible to keep them confined within the four walls", he says.
