Rhino Reintroduction
At it’s peak Manas was home to nearly a hundred rhinos. However, during the civil unrest which lasted for more than a decade, Manas lost most of this population
Under the ambitious Indian Rhino Vision 2020, a collaborative initiative of Assam Forest, Bodoland Territorial Council, International Rhino Foundation, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and World Wide Fund for Nature, wild and rehabilitated rhinos were reintroduced in Manas from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park, from 2006 to 2020
Pygmy Hog Reintroduction
The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is the world’s smallest and rarest wild pig most threatened by extinction
The pygmy hog was ‘rediscovered’ in the Manas landscape in 1971 and was thriving, along with another extremely rare grassland species, the hispid hare
Due to its habitat specificity for tall alluvial grasslands, it acts as an indicator of the health of grasslands. As on date, a wild population of Pygmy Hogs is found across the river Beki in Panbari Range of Manas
As the species is near extinction, in 1995, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey, UK partnered with Forest Department, Government of Assam, IUCN Wild Pig Specialist Group & Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India formed Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP)
A total of 36 Pygmy Hogs have been released in Manas under the said programme
Swamp Deer Reintroduction
A translocation program was developed on recommendation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Committee by Assam Forest Department in collaboration with ONGC and the Wildlife Trust of India. Under this program, two groups of 19 individuals and 17 individuals of Eastern Swamp deer were translocated in two batches from Kaziranga National Park to Manas National Park in December, 2014 and February, 2017 respectively following a strict swamp deer translocation protocol. After acclimatization, the herds of Eastern Swamp deer were successfully released into the wild and subsequently they have reintegrated with the remnant populations of swamp deer in Manas NP.
