Pigs, Peccaries and Hippos Status Survey and Action Plan (1993)

 

Chapter 5. 3

 

The Pigmy Hog

(Sus salvanius)

 

 

William L. R. Oliver and Sanjoy Deb Roy

 

 

Status and Action Plan Summary

 

Status category 6 (critically endangered).

 

This species has the highest priority rating of all suiformes, and is considered to be amongst the most endangered of all mammals. Pygmy hogs are now reduced to only two known, isolated populations in the few remaining tall grasslands of north-western Assam. These are in the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (391 sq km) and its buffer reserves, and in the small Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary (26.6 sq km). The size of these populations is unknown, though the Barnadi population may number less than 50 individuals and the Manas population is unlikely to be more than a few hundred individuals, and may be considerably less. Unfortunately, Manas is also seriously threatened following the recent (February 1989) invasion of the Sanctuary by an extremist faction of the All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU), who have wrested control of a large part of the core area and facilitated the influx of large numbers of wildlife and timber poachers. The principal recommendations for this species are: 1) the immediate return of control of the Sanctuary to the relevant authorities by any possible means, and the restoration and enhanced future protection of this area; 2) the early initiation of field status surveys designed to: (a) determine the species' current distribution and priority requirements in the environs of Manas, (b) identify any other possibly surviving, remnant populations elsewhere in the region, and c) identify suitable sites for possible future reintroductions; 3) the establishment of a properly structured captive breeding program, both as a safeguard against the species' possible imminent extinction and as a source for future reintroductions; and 4) the initiation of a medium to long term field studies on the species' behavioral-ecology and habitat management requirements.

 

 

Introduction

 

The pygmy hog is the world's smallest suid and is therefore a potentially extremely valuable genetic resource. It is also one of the most useful indicators of current wildlife habitat management practices - particularly the effects of widespread, too-frequent burning and other exploitative and degradative pressures - in the few remaining tall grasslands of the northern Indian subcontinent (Oliver, 1980, 1981, 1984; Bell and Oliver, 1991a).

 

S. salvanius is a monotypic species (Groves, 1981; Grubb and Groves, this vol.), which is sympatric with S. scrofa throughout its limited known range. Relatively few characters other than the extreme reduction in body size (i.e. males c. 65 cm head + body length, c. 25 cm shoulder height, c. 8.5 kg wt.; females somewhat smaller; Mallinson, 1977; Oliver, 1980) are truly diagnostic, though the vestigial tail (c. 3cm) and possession of only three pairs of mammae are specific characters. In addition, there are some important changes in the proportions of the body in comparison with other members of the genus (e.g. reduction in the size of the forequarters, ears and length of the facial skeleton), which effect a marked streamlining of the body. These factors, together with its diminutive size, enable pigmy hogs to move with great rapidity through their extremely dense, early successional, tall grassland habitat, to which they are evidently restricted and supremely well adapted.

 

 

 

Link to Fig. 11: Approximate former and present known range of the pygmy hog, Sus salvanius.

 

Former and Present Distribution

 

Most records of this species appertain to the narrow alluvial tract known as the 'terai' or 'duars', which extends south of the Himalayan foothills from north-eastern Uttar Pradesh in the east, through southern Nepal and northern West Bengal to north-western Assam and adjacent parts of extreme south Bhutan (Fig. 1). The presence of pygmy hogs has never been confirmed from north-eastern Assam or southern Arunachal Pradesh, though it is possible that they occur there (Oliver, 1981; Pandya, 1990). However, the species is known to have occurred in some areas south of the Brahmaputra River in south and south-eastern Assam. Contemporary records from the latter areas include eyewitness reports in the Goalpara District of south-west Assam in the late 1950's/early 1960's (Oliver, 1979a, 1980) and from the Surma Valley in Cachar District, south-east Assam, where one of us (SDR) saw a freshly killed animal in 1968. No trace of the species' continued existence in these areas was found during the course of brief surveys in 1977 and 1978 (I. K. Bhattacharyya, pers. comm.), though their former occurrence in the Cachar region lends credence to the occasional, unconfirmed reports of their recent occurrence in parts of north and north-east Bangladesh (Oliver, 1984, 1985).

 

Unfortunately, the species is almost certainly extinct over most of its known or presumed recent range in the terai and duars regions. Occasional rumors of pygmy hogs in south-eastern Nepal, for example, have not been verified, despite repeated attempts to locate them (Griffiths, 1978). A U.S. expedition from the Hormel Institute spent four weeks searching unsuccessfully for pygmy hogs in 1964 (T. Reed, pers. comm.). A University of East Anglia expedition team also failed to find any trace of these animals during a six-month survey of tall grasslands in south-east Nepal, and concluded that remaining habitat was so limited that it was unlikely that the species survived there (Rands et al., 1979). A similar, three months survey of all remaining grassland in the reserve forests, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks of northern Bangladesh, northern West Bengal, north-western Bihar, north-eastern Uttar Pradesh and south-western Nepal in 1984, also failed to reveal any definite evidence of surviving animals, though several new populations of the closely-associated hispid hare, Caprolagus hispidus, were described (Oliver, 1984; Bell and Oliver, in press; Bell et al, in press).

 

All recent, confirmed reports of this species therefore originate from the reserve forest belt of north-western Assam, where at least seventeen pigmy hogs were captured in the vicinity of the Barnadi Reserve Forest, in Darrang District, in March/April, 1971; most of which were retained for a captive breeding venture on neighboring tea estates. The circumstances surrounding this event, which was hailed by several authors (e.g. Tessier-Yandell, 1971; Mallinson, 1971) as the 'rediscovery' of the species, were made rather more remarkable by the coincidental first reporting of the species in the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, approximately 60 km west of Barnadi. The species was subsequently reported from a number of separate areas in the environs of the Manas Sanctuary (Deb Roy, unpubl.), and in the Khalingdaur Reserve Forest, approximately 5km east of Barnadi (Ranjitsinh, 1972). The continued occurrence of small numbers of pygmy hogs in Barnadi R.F. was confirmed during the course of a two months survey of the reserve and unclassed state forests of north-western Assam in 1977, which also revealed the recent (c. 1975) extinction of the population in Khalingdaur R.F., but their continued existence in a number of other areas in the region, namely: Subankhata R.F., Darranga R.F., Corromore U.S.F., Rowta R.F., Balipara R.F. and Gohpur R.F. (Oliver, 1979a, 1980). However, all of these other populations were reported to be of small size and highly susceptible to encroachment and exploitation pressure, and all of them are known, or believed likely to have been lost since that time (Oliver, 1981, 1984; Deb Roy, in litt.; P. Lahan, pers. comm.). Accordingly, by the mid-1980's, the only known, viable population (i.e. undoubtedly surviving and of presumed reasonable size) was in the Manas Sanctuary and the contiguous Koklabari and Manas Reserve Forests. In 1981, the Barnadi Reserve Forest was finally upgraded to a Wildlife Sanctuary for better protection of the pygmy hog and the hispid hare, and small numbers of both species have recently been confirmed as surviving in this area (S. K. Sharma, pers. comm.; N. C. Kalita, pers. comm.; Oliver, 1990a, 1991).

 

 

 

Habitat, Ecology and Behavior

 

Adult male pygmy hogs are distinguished by their relatively larger size, more robust appearance and exposed tusks. They are usually seen by themselves, but are reported to join estrous sows during the rut and to associate loosely at other times of the year with the basic social units of (usually) four to six individuals, comprising one or more adult females and accompanying immatures. Reproduction is strongly seasonal, with almost all recorded data indicating a single, well defined birth peak, which coincides with the onset of the monsoon (i.e. in late April and May in western Assam). Litter size varies from two to six, but is usually three to four (Mallinson, 1977; Oliver, 1979b, 1991). The species is also unusual amongst the suids in that nests are constructed and utilized by both sexes at all times of the year, and nest-building is not, therefore, associated only with farrowing or inclement weather (Oliver, 1980).

 

All recent data indicate that this species is dependent on early successional riverine communities, typically comprising dense tall grasslands, commonly referred to as 'thatchland', but which, in its pristine state, is intermixed with a wide variety of herbaceous plants and early colonizing shrubs and young trees. These grasslands, or 'mixed thatch-scrub', are a feature of the successional continuum between primary colonizing grasses on the new alluvium deposited by changing water courses, through to deciduous riverine forests and, in drier areas, the Sal (Shorea robusta) forest climax vegetation. Tall grasslands may also form an understory during later stages of this succession, particularly near water courses, or in forest clearings and abandoned cultivation and village sites. In relatively undisturbed areas, the grasslands are maintained by prolonged inundation during the monsoon and/or by periodic burning. In disturbed areas, they are maintained by regular burning, grazing pressure, and/or regular harvesting of the thatch grasses for roofing and domestic animal fodder. There are many species of tall grasses, which dominate in different situations. The most important of these communities for pigmy hogs are those which tend to be dominated by Saccharum munj, S. bengalensis, Themida villosa and Narenga spp., which form characteristic associations of 2 to 3m height, during secondary stages of the succession on well drained ground. These communities are not, therefore, maintained by prolonged inundation, though they may be maintained by periodic burning. However, as they also include some of the most commercially important thatching grasses, most of these areas (including many of those in wildlife sanctuaries and national parks) are harvested annually and virtually all of them are subject to wide-scale annual (in some areas, twice-annual) burning. Most of this burning is conducted at the beginning of the dry season (i.e. in December or early January), in order to preclude the possibility of later, uncontrolled 'hot' burns, which are far more destructive. As a result, however, the regularly burnt grasslands are also characterized by the relatively uniform growth of a few, fire-resistant species and, hence, a chronic reduction in species' diversity and the quality and carrying-capacity of this habitat for many dependant animal species.

 

 

Threats to Survival

 

The recent and continuing decline in the distribution and numbers of pygmy hogs is directly attributable to the loss and degradation of habitat to human settlements, agricultural encroachment, commercial forestry and flood control schemes; the latter as a result of the disruption of natural successions and the replacements of former grasslands by later stage communities or other developments. In Assam, as elsewhere, most former habitat has been lost to settlements and agriculture following the rapid expansion of the human population. However, this process has been exacerbated by high levels of (mostly illegal) immigration of Bengali, Bangladeshi and Nepali peoples, thereby also producing problems of civil unrest amongst Assamese ethnic groups. These factors have put additional pressure on what little wildlife habitat remains, and have resulted in the loss of at least two known populations of these animals in recent years; i.e. those in Corromore Unclassed State Forest, which was occupied by immigrant settlers from Nepal in 1978/79, and those in Gohpur Reserve Forest which was swamped by illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in 1979/80 (D. K. Lahiri-Choudhury, pers. comm).

 

In these, as in other parts of north-western Assam, the surviving grasslands are reduced to small, discrete patches within declared reserve boundaries, where they are mostly subject to continued attrition or exploitation through commercial afforestation programmes, over-grazing by domestic herbivores and/or thatch grass harvesting. Virtually all remaining grasslands are therefore burnt every year, either by Forest Department personnel or by herdsmen and thatch collectors from neighboring settlements. This burning is extremely prejudicial to the survival of the hog, through the short-term loss of cover and other resources, and the resulting ecological instability, loss of species' diversity and consequent reduction in the carrying capacity of this habitat for dependant (non-grazing) animals. In drier areas, the interval between the burning (usually in late December or January) and the regrowth of vegetation following early rains (usually in April or May) may be as long as three to four months. During this period, the hogs are either entirely dependent on any habitat left unburnt, mostly by chance or, if burning is particularly severe, are forced to seek cover elsewhere (e.g. on neighboring tea estates). In either event they are liable to be killed by hunters, whose activities are facilitated by the enforced concentration of game in any remaining cover during the post-burning period. In the Barnadi Reserve Forest in 1977, for example, village hunters accounted for at least five (14%) of the total estimated population of about thirty-five pigmy hogs (Oliver, 1979a, 1980).

 

A combination of these factors has almost certainly resulted in the loss of all of the recently known (i.e. post-1971), small populations of these animals in the reserve forests of north-western Assam. These losses include Khalingdaur Reserve Forest, where pigmy hogs were reported to have become extinct by 1975/1976 following the replacement of some habitat by hardwood plantations and the repeated burning of all of the remaining grasslands by herdsmen. Wide-scale burning in connection with commercial thatch concessions is thought to have accounted for the loss of small populations in Subankhata, Darranga and Rowta Reserve Forest some time between 1978 and 1980. The population in Barnadi was also feared lost following particularly extensive burnings in 1980 and 1981 (Oliver, 1981). However, a recent (1990) visit to this area provided confirmation of subsequent reports that small numbers of these animals survived, following the upgrading of Barnadi from a Reserve Forest to a Wildlife Sanctuary in August 1981, the subsequent cessation of all commercial forestry practices, the eviction of squatters and improved protection (patrolling) against poaching and grazing of domestic herbivores (P. C. Das, pers. comm., N. C. Kalita, pers. comm., Oliver, 1990a).

 

These losses strongly reinforced the overwhelming importance of the largest and, by the early to mid-1980's, only known surviving population in the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary. Moreover, the deleterious effects of wide-scale annual burning on the tall grasslands in Manas are considered less severe than in the reserve forests, owing to the absence of the associated exploitative practices, the deliberate management policy of early 'patch-burning', and the rapid regrowth of vegetation consequent of condensation and a high water table. Given the relatively large size of the Sanctuary (391 sq km) and contiguous reserve forests, which incorporate several large grasslands, some inter-population dispersal is possible, and a single catastrophic event, such as a major conflagration, is unlikely to eliminate the entire population of hogs, as has apparently happened elsewhere.

 

Nonetheless, the survival of this species remains crucially dependant on the future of the Manas Sanctuary itself. Unfortunately, this is far from assured, given the continued civil unrest and other, mostly political, problems relating to the high levels of illegal immigration and a strong separatist movement in Assam. Recent threats to the Sanctuary have included the proposed construction of two dams on the Bhutan side of the Manas River, to supply hydro-electric power, flood control and water for irrigation schemes on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River. This plan was abandoned in 1986, following strong national and international opposition, but in February 1989, an equally serious threat became manifest when armed extremists of the All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU) invaded the Sanctuary and killed several guards, looted and burnt rest houses and other property, and allowed the entry of numerous wildlife and timber poachers. This and subsequent attacks on the Sanctuary staff and property was justified on the basis that the Manas area was part of the homeland of the Bodos, one of the largest ethnic minorities in Assam, but had been taken from them during the British rule. In fact, however, Manas is being used as a refuge by militant extremists who shelter in the Sanctuary following acts of hostility and sabotage elsewhere in the region. At present, most of the core area, particularly the 120 sq km western sector, continues to be controlled by the extremists and therefore remains out of the control of the relevant authorities. The damage perpetrated by poachers and the rebel tribals is not thought likely to have had a major negative impact on the pygmy hog population as yet, but the future of the whole area is now in jeopardy (Deb Roy, unpubl.; Oliver, 1990b).

 

 

Conservation Measures Taken

 

The pygmy hog is included on Schedule 1 of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act (Government of India, 1972) under the terms of which it is accorded maximum protection. However, this Act was not ratified by the State of Assam until January 1977, and it has proven entirely ineffective in protecting this species in the absence of any legal protection of its habitat over the majority of its recent known range in the reserve forests of N.W. Assam. In 1981, the Barnadi Reserve Forest was upgraded to a Wildlife Sanctuary for the better protection of the pygmy hog and the hispid hare, and small numbers of these species are now known to survive there despite earlier fears that they were both extinct in the area by that time. The species also survives only in the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and its buffer reserve forests. However, its habitat remains unprotected in latter areas, where commercial forestry operations pose a continuing threat to its survival. The Manas Sanctuary was one of the first sanctuaries to be designated in (1973) as a Tiger Reserve, and its boundaries were extended to a total area of 2,837 sq km in 1980. In recognition of its international significance, Manas was also one of the first wildlife areas in India to be designated by Unesco (in 1986) as a World Heritage Site. However, it is also included on the IUCN list of the World's Threatened Protected Areas (J. Thorsell, pers. comm.).

 

The pygmy hog is included on Appendix 1 of the 1973 Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), so that trade in it or its products between acceding nations is subject to severe restriction, and trade for primarily commercial purposes is prohibited. However, international trade is not considered an issue for this species, or to have materially influenced its present conservation status. The species is listed as 'Endangered' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals (1988), and was included in the first (1984) IUCN/WWF listing of the twelve most threatened animal species (Anon, 1985). It is also included in the current, provisional list of World Heritage Species (S. Edwards, pers. comm.).

 

Current understanding of the species' recent history, distribution, present status and future management needs are based largely on the field surveys conducted in 1977, 1981 and 1984, referred to above (Oliver 1979a,b, 1980, 1981 and 1984), and on observations are records appertaining to the captive animals on tea estates (Mallinson, 1971, 1977) and in the Manas Sanctuary (Deb Roy, unpubl.). A three-point 'Action Plan for the Pigmy Hog', submitted to the relevant authorities in the Assam States and Indian Central Governments by the IUCN/SSC Pigs and Peccaries Specialist Group, was agreed in full in December 1987 but, owing to the continued high levels of civil unrest in north-western Assam, this has yet to be implemented. A duly modified, and extended version of this Plan is outlined below.

 

 

Captive Breeding

 

Despite the relatively large number (i.e. >40) of pigmy hogs taken into captivity on tea estates in north-west Assam between 1971 and 1976, and the relatively large number of captive births (>45) recorded during this period (Mallinson, 1977), all of this stock has since died out. These losses include small numbers of animals supplied to the Assam State Zoo, Guwahati, and Zurich Zoo, Switzerland (K. C. Patar, pers. comm.; Schmidt et al., 1978; Oliver, 1980; Schmidt, unpubl.). Small numbers of pygmy hogs were also maintained in a compound in the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in the mid-1980'. Several litters were born to these animals, but no young reared and all of the adults eventually escaped or were released. A further ten individuals (six caught in 1988 and four in 1989) were captured in Manas and placed in a larger (1.25 ha) enclosure in tall grassland in Bansbari Range, Manas, though the subsequent history of these animals, is poorly known owing to the difficulty of observing them in such a (relatively) large, densely vegetated enclosure, difficulty of access during the current crisis, and the fact that the enclosure has been damaged by wild elephants and rhinos on at least two occasions. In any event, there were no pygmy hogs left in this enclosure by late 1991/early 1992 (P. Lahan, pers. comm.).

 

 

 

Additional Remarks

 

The pygmy hog is thought to be sole host of the pigmy hog sucking louse, Haematopinus oliveri, which, owing to the status of its host, is also accorded 'Endangered' categorization in the IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book (Wells et al., 1983).

 

Any conservation measures designed to protect the habitat of the pygmy hog are certain to benefit a wide variety of other seriously threatened species, including the hispid hare, Caprolagus hispidus, and the Bengal florican, Houbaropsis benghalensis, both of which species also have their largest surviving populations in the Manas Sanctuary.

 

As it is by far the smallest suid, the pygmy hog is a potentially extremely useful and valuable genetic resource, with obvious possibilities for use in biomedical research and for the further domestication of one of the man's most important sources of terrestrial animal protein.

 

 

Conservation Measures Proposed:

An Action Plan

 

In line with currently available information on the critical status of this species, and the terms and objectives of India's National Wildlife Action Plan (Government of India, 1983), the following objectives and actions are strongly recommended for immediate implementation. However, it is recognized that the survival of this species is intimately linked with the restoration of the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary by the removal of illegal occupants and the enhanced future protection of this Sanctuary and its buffer reserve forests, and that any such actions are of paramount priority and urgency.         

 

 

Objectives:

 

1. To promote whatever actions are necessary to restore the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and its buffer reserves, and to assist the enhanced future protection of that area.

 

2. To help to ensure the survival of the pygmy hog into perpetuity by the promotion and implementation of those activities/projects specified in the Action Plan, or such others as may be identified in the future.

 

3. To facilitate an enhanced understanding and appreciation of this species, its potential importance as a genetic resource and as a model for the enhanced future management of tall grasslands in the north Indian sub-continent.

 

 

Priority Projects:

 

1.      Conduct field status surveys of the Barnadi and Manas Wildlife Sanctuaries (the latter to include the adjacent Koklabari, Kahitama, Panbari and Manas Reserve Forests) in order to assess this species' present distribution, status and immediate management requirements in these areas.

 

 

2. Conduct field status surveys of selected tall grasslands within the known, or postulated recent range of this species, with a view to the identification and protection of any possibly surviving populations elsewhere, and the assessment of selected areas for the future reintroduction of translocated or captive-bred animals.

 

Areas to be investigated should include: Pochu and Mochu Reserve Forests, Goley Game Reserve, Neuri Wildlife Reserve and Khaling Reserve Forest in southern Bhutan; Subankhata and Darranga Reserve Forests, Sonai-Rupa and Nameri Wildlife Sanctuaries in north-western Assam; and Pakkui, Lali, Dibru Saikhowa, D'Ering Memorial and Namdapha Wildlife Sanctuaries in southern Arunachal Pradesh. Selected areas in south-eastern Assam, north-eastern Bangladesh and extreme south-western Nepal may also merit further investigation in this context.

 

 

3.      Establish a properly structured, captive breeding program.

 

This Program should include the following objectives: a) to serve as a safeguard against the (not improbable) early extinction of the species in the wild state; b) to serve as a source of animals for reintroduction to selected, protected sites within its recent known habitat in north-western Assam and elsewhere; c) to serve as a means of obtaining detailed information on the species' life history, reproductive biology and social behaviour, much of which information would be impractical to obtain from studies of wild animals (also see below); and d) to serve as a conservation education, captive breeding and field research training facility. This program should be initiated in Barnadi (if possible with a corollary project in Manas), but should include extensions to other reputable breeding centers in India or elsewhere at the earliest opportunity.

 

4.      Conduct detailed studies of the behaviour and ecology of the pygmy hog, with particular reference to the establishment of management criteria for the enhanced protection of the wild population.

 

These studies should be conducted in Manas (with its more extensive range of early successional grasslands and grassland dependent species) and in Barnadi (where field conditions are easier) and should be continued for at least two years, but preferably three to four years. These studies should include related investigations into the general ecology of the tall grasslands the effects of current management policies, particularly dry-seasonal burning, with a view to the development of strategies designed to maintain the integrity of these grasslands and optimal species' diversity. Manas is ideally suited for this purpose since it supports a variety of different tall grass communities, and representative populations of a larger number of major (including Schedule 1) species of herbivores than any other area in the Indian sub-continent.

 

 

Acknowledgements

 

Grateful thanks are extended to numerous officials in the Wildlife Sections of the Forest Department, Govt. of Assam, and the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India, who have provided much useful information or otherwise facilitated the compilation of this Plan. We would also wish to express our sincere appreciation for the invaluable assistance provided to us at various times by many other individuals and numerous other governmental and non-governmental institutions in India and elsewhere. We are thankful to Paul Vercammen and Peter Cuypers for preparing the distribution map. The continued support of the Wildlife Preservation Trust is also gratefully acknowledged.

 

 

References

 

Anon 1971. Pigmy hog and hispid hare. Oryx, J. Fauna Preserv. Soc., XI (2-3): 103-107.

 

Anon 1985. Choosing the 24 most endangered species. Newsletter, Species Survival Commission, 5: 17-23.

 

Bell, D. J. and Oliver, W. L. R. 1991. The burning question, and other problems relating to tall grassland management and the conservation of endangered species in the northern Indian sub-continent. (In press).

 

Bell, D. J., Oliver, W. L. R. and Ghose, R. K. 1991. The hispid hare Caprolagus hispidus. In: J. A. Chapman and J. E. Flux (eds): Rabbits, Hares and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 128-136.

 

Government of India 1972. The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, New Delhi.

 

Government of India 1983. National Wildlife Action Plan. Dept. of Environment, New Delhi: 28pp.

 

Griffith, L. D. 1978. The search for the pigmy hog in Nepal. Nature Ann., Nepal Nature Conserv. Soc.,11:41-45.

 

Groves, C. P. 1981. Ancestors for the Pigs: Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Genus Sus. Tech. Bull. No. 3, Dept. Prehistory, Res. Sch. Pacific Studies, Australian Nat. Univ.: 96pp.

 

IUCN 1988. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.

 

Mallinson, J. J. C. 1971. The pigmy hog, Sus salvanius (Hodgson) in northern Assam. J. Bombay Nat Hist. Soc., 68 (2): 424-433.

 

Mallinson, J. J. C. 1977. Breeding of the pigmy hog, Sus salvanius (Hodgson) in northern Assam. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 74 (2): 288-289.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1979a. The doubtful future of the pigmy hog and the hispid hare: pigmy hog survey report, part I. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 75 (2): 341-372.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1979b. Observations of the biology of the pigmy hog (with a footnote on the hispid hare): pigmy hog survey report, part II. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 76 (2): 115-142.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1980. The Pigmy Hog: the Biology and Conservation of the Pigmy Hog, Sus (Porcula) salvanius, and the Hispid Hare, Caprolagus hispidus. Jersey Wildl. Preserv. Trust, Spec. Scien. Rep. No. 1: 80pp.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1981. Pigmy hog and hispid hare: further observations of the continuing decline (or, a lament for Barnadi, and a good cause for scepticism). Dodo, J. Jersey Wildl. Preserv. Trust, 18: 10-20.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1984. The distribution and status of the hispid hare, Caprolagus hispidus: the summarised findings of the 1984 pigmy hog/hispid hare field survey in northern Bangladesh, southern Nepal and northern India. Dodo, J. Jersey Wildl. Preserv. Trust, 21: 6-32.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1985. The distribution and status of the hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), with some additional notes on the pigmy hog (Sus salvanius) - a report on the 1984 field survey. (Unpubl.) rep. to Wildlife Preservation Trust: 94 pp.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1990a. A reprieve for Barnadi. (Unpubl.) rep. to IUCN: 3pp.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1990b. The troubles in Manas. (Unpubl.) rep. to IUCN: 5pp.

 

Oliver, W. L. R. 1991. Monograph on the pigmy hog, Sus salvanius. In: H. Fra‰drich and H.-G. Klos (eds.), Proc. of the Pigs and Peccaries Workshop at Zoo Berlin, 12-15th July 1990: Bongo, Berlin: 21-38.

 

Pandya, N. P. 1990. Report on an initial survey of pigmy hog, Sus salvanius, and hispid hare, Caprolagus hispidus, and their habitat in Arunachal Pradesh, India during April 1990. (Unpubl.): 25pp.

 

Rands, M., Brown, P. and Newton, P. 1979. University of East Anglia Nepal Expedition, 1978/1978. (Unpubl.): 79pp.

 

Ranjitsinh, M. K. 1972. A note on the future conservation plan for the pigmy hog (Sus salvanius) and hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus; Pearson, 1839). (Unpubl.) D.O. No. 682/DSF 1023/72, Govt. of India.

 

Schmidt, C. R., Mallinson J. J. C. and Weilenmann, P. 1978. International co-operation for captive breeding of the pigmy hog, Sus salvanius. Int. Zoo News, 25/3 (150): 28-31.

 

Tessier-Yandell, J. 1971. The pigmy hog, Sus salvanius. Cheetal, 14 (3): 23-28.

 

Wells, S. M., Pyle, R. M. and Collins, N. M. 1983. The IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book. IUCN, Gland: 365-367.

 

 

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