Pygmy Hog Conservation and the Restoration of Assam's Floodplains

Gist The Assam government has successfully expanded the population of the highly threatened pygmy hog through a captive breeding programme that increased its numbers 32-fold over three decades. Because the pygmy hog is heavily dependent on dense grasslands for feeding and reproduction, it serves as a crucial indicator species for the health of India's alluvial floodplains. For a civil services aspirant, this development is significant because it highlights the intersection of species-specific conservation and broader ecosystem restoration, demonstrating how protecting a single niche species can secure an entire threatened habitat. Background The pygmy hog is the world's smallest wild suid pig family and the sole surviving species of its genus. By the mid-20th century, the species was presumed extinct due to the widespread conversion of its floodplain habitats into farms, tea plantations, and flood control infrastructure. Following the rediscovery of a few individuals in 1971 , early conservation efforts eventually led to the formal launch of the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme in 1995 . The species currently relies heavily on captive breeding as an "insurance" population, as wild numbers remain…