Dec

Endangered wild buffalo population count reaches nine in Udanti

Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary (Chhattisgarh): The lone female wild buffalo in the Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary gave birth to a healthy male calf (Mohan) last week, following her third successful pregnancy, thus bringing the population of this endangered mammal to nine here.

In India, the wild buffalo was once numerous and widely distributed in riverine forests and plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, but is now confined to only a few pockets in north-east and central India.

A Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) survey estimated not more than 50 individuals in three sub-populations in Indravati National Park, Pamed and Udanti Wildlife Sanctuaries in Chhattisgarh.

The wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is a large bovine with a global population of less than 3,500 of which more than 90% are in India. It is classified as endangered by IUCN and protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. In India, they are largely restricted to in and around Kaziranga, Manas and Dibru-Saikhowa National Parks, Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries and a few scattered pockets in Assam; in and around D’Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh; a small population in Buxa Tiger Reserve northern West Bengal; Balpakram National Park Meghalaya and in Madhya Pradesh in the Indravati National Park and the Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary – Choudhury, A. (2010). In July 2001, the wild buffalo was declared as the State Animal of Chhattisgarh.

“In addition to the critically low population, wild buffaloes in Udanti also face threats in the form of extreme competition for resources from livestock, conflicts and habitat degradation among others,” says Dr Rajendra Mishra, WTI who runs the Central India Wild Buffalo Conservation Project. “Following these revelations, WTI helped the Forest Department prepare a five-year Action Plan for the recovery of the wild buffalo population in Udanti, comprising three basic objectives – ensuring zero unnatural deaths of the remaining individuals, habitat improvement, and population augmentation by re-stocking (especially females) from closely-related populations or conservation breeding.”

While the birth of the calf brought cheer, conservationists were hoping for a female calf, as the population has only one female. “We were waiting for female calf but it’s a male; still, an increase of one more individual in the population,” said Ram Prakash, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Chhattisgarh.

Through the Central India Wild Buffalo Conservation Project, the state’s Forest Department and WTI are working to conserve the species and facilitate its recovery in Udanti. In addition to the planned breeding programme of the lone female, the project monitors all the buffaloes individually. Habitat improvement activities are also carried out in the range of the buffaloes. The project also facilitates provision of relief to farmers who incur losses due to crop damage by the buffaloes.

“When the population of any wild animal crashes down to such low levels, the situation demands out-of-the-box thinking. The priority should be to exponentially increase the numbers by one method or the other. A she buffalo during her lifetime can produce not more than 7 calves. We will have to either bring in more females to Udanti from other protected areas, or initiate an assisted reproduction program that will involve cryo-preservation of germ plasm, super ovulation, in-vitro or in-vivo fertilisation and embryo transfer technologies,” says Dr NVK Ashraf, Chief Veterinarian, WTI.