Pygmy Hog Porcula salvania

Pygmy Hog Porcula salvania

Endangered

Extant (resident)

India

Extinct

Bangladesh; Nepal

Presence Uncertain

Bhutan

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Pygmy hogs are only found in the lush and dense grasslands of Manas National Park, a small protected region in the shadows of the Himalayan mountains. These shy tiny wild pigs are the smallest pigs in the world and also the most endangered, threatened by habitat loss for palm oil and meat agriculture. Help them to survive each time you shop and #BeVegan #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife

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The pygmy hog is a sensitive indicator of the health of their habitat. When there is a healthy population it indicates that other species are doing well too. Maintaining their grassland habitat is essential for protecting the region from the ravages of climate change related extreme weather like floods, fires and temperature extremes.

Their new threat is palm oil expansion in Assam

Once these hogs were widespread over the tall wet grasslands of Uttar Pradesh to Assam, Nepal and Bengal. Now their only remaining population remains in Manas National Park which is being threatened by the expansive growth of palm oil in that region.

The Manas National Park captive breeding programme started in 1996 with only six hogs. Reintroduction of captive-bred hogs in the wild began in 2008. Initially, three Protected Areas in Assam were selected for better protection and grassland restoration. Over the next decade, 35 hogs were released in Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, 59 in Orang National Park, and 22 in Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary. Their new threat is palm oil which threatens their only remaining range.

Appearance & Behaviour

Pygmy hogs are the rarest, smallest and most endangered wild pigs in the world. They live in one isolated patch of forest in Assam, India.

Their skin is dark brownish-black in colour and their hair is dark. Piglets are born grayish-pink and become brown with yellow stripes as they mature. They have a sharply tapered head and a crest of hair on their foreheads and necks. Adult males have a buck toothed appearance with their upper canines visible outside of their mouths.

They are highly social and gregarious animals that live together in small family groups. Generally the groups consist of two adult females and their offspring. Adult males live away from groups and come into contact throughout the year for mating. They spend the majority of their time foraging and are diurnal. To rest they build trench-like nests that they cover with ferns and vegetation, they repose here during the heat of the day and take rest to warm up during winter.

Threats

Pygmy hogs face a number of anthropogenic threats:

Population growth: human settlements have resulted in the loss of their grassland habitat for housing developments.

Palm oil and meat agriculture: Livestock grazing and the widespread growth of palm oil in the Assam region is an additional threat. Fire is often used as a method of preparation of the area for farming.

Hunting: was not considered a major problem in the past but is now threatening the remnant populations (Narayan and Deka 2002).

A combination of these factors has almost certainly resulted in the loss of all of the small populations of these animals in the reserve forests of north-western Assam. These losses strongly reinforced the overwhelming importance of the largest and, by the early to mid-1980s, only known surviving population in the Manas (Oliver 1981, 1989; Oliver and Deb Roy 1993).

IUCN RED LIST

The survival of Pygmy Hogs is closely linked to the existence of the tall, wet grasslands of the region which, besides being a highly threatened habitat itself, is also crucial for survival of a number endangered species such as Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Tiger (Panthera tigris), Swamp Deer (Cervus duvauceli), Wild Buffalo (Bubalus arnee), Hispid Hare (Caprolagus hispidus), Bengal Florican (Eupodotis bengalensis), Swamp Francolin (Francolinus gularis) and some rare turtles and terrapins.

IUCN RED LIST

Habitat

Pygmy hogs can be found only in southern Bhutan and in Assam, India. They live in patches of increasingly isolated grasslands in the foothills of the Himalayan mountain range.

Diet

Pygmy hogs are omnivores and forage for roots, tubers, insects and small reptiles and rodents.

Mating and breeding

Pygmy hogs breed seasonally before the yearly deluge of monsoon season. Females give birth to a litter of around 3 to 6 piglets and gestation lasts for about 5 months. As the pregnant female comes close to her birthing day she will get busy nesting, wallowing and eating in preparation of the new arrival. Young remain hidden in nests for about one week and mum will bring them out of the nest after this to familiarise them with the wider world. Pigs become reproductively mature when they are 1 to 2 years old.

Support Pygmy Hogs by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

You can support this beautiful animal

Durrell Foundation – Pygmy Hog Conservation

Further Information

Meijaard, E., Narayan, G. & Deka, P. 2019. Porcula salvania. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T21172A44139115. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T21172A44139115.en. Accessed on 11 November 2022.

Meet the Pygmy Hog, the Rarest Pig in the World, Roundglass Sustain

Pygmy Hogs on Animalia.Bio

Pig in clover: how the world’s smallest wild hog was saved from extinction, The Guardian

Durrell’s Pygmy Hogs by Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

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