Guwahati: The global population of the Asiatic wild buffalo has been estimated at around 3,400, of which, 95 per cent inhabits in India, mostly in Assam, and of these, the famed Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) is home to over 2,600 of its estimated population.
The ancestor of the domestic water buffalo, the ideal habitat for this formidable mammal had earlier been the grassy jungles of the Indian subcontinent including the Nepal terai, but now, they are confined to only the protected areas, with most of them visible at the KNPTR, Manas National Park, Laokhowa-Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary and the Dibru Saikhowa National Park, all in Assam. The Pabho Reserve Forest in Lakhimpur district was designated as the ‘Milroy Buffalo Sanctuary’ in 1941, however, a large landmass of the forest sank after the great Assam earthquake in 1950, Field Director of KNPTR, Sonali Ghosh, stated in a press release.
The key reasons for the extinction of the Asiatic wild buffalo elsewhere have been attributed to the loss of habitat, interbreeding and hunting, as in the case of its former range in Southeast Asia. The buffaloes prefer tall grass jungles, reed breaks combined with swamps and ample water. They live in herds of varying sizes except the solitary males. The herd generally consists of one dominant adult male, immature juvenile males and cows, and calves of all ages. The social grouping of the buffaloes is quite cohesive and the most cohesive unit is the cow herd with calves and juveniles. Sub-adult males and adult males are typically solitary or form into temporary all-male herds. The first systematic population estimation for wild buffaloes at the KNPTR took place in 1966 with 471 of them being counted. Thereafter in 2008, the estimation revealed the presence of over 1,937, the release stated.
The increasing trends of the wild buffalo population throw in several challenges including the heightened human-animal conflict, inbreeding and genetic dilution, and the need to take up science-based conservation measures. To discuss and deliberate on all these matters, a technical seminar was organised by the KNPTR authorities in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Corbett Foundation and World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF-India) on Tuesday. The target audience was the local college youth, academic institutions and community representatives, the release added.
The keynote address was delivered by renowned Indian naturalist and author of the seminal work ‘The vanishing herds-the wild water buffalo,’ Anwaruddin Choudhury. Referring to the presence of buffalo images during the Indus Valley Civilisation and ‘Babur Nama’ during the Mughal period, Choudhury said that the presence of buffalo species in the social and ecological sphere has always been common. He also shed light on the global scenario of the wild water buffalo population with special reference to Assam, where 3,800 buffalos are present, the release further stated.
“Currently, there is a 53 per cent population of wild water buffalo in Kaziranga. In a global context, there are at present 620 populations of the wild water buffalo. Effective protection and management of the existing protected areas, stringent monitoring against poaching, population monitoring, removal of invasive weeds, check on encroachment and eviction of encroachers, reintroduction of wild water buffalo in former habitats, rescue of abandoned calf, mitigation of human-buffalo conflict, and no tree plantation in the grassland are some of the major recommendations for long term survival of wild water buffalo,” Choudhury said.
The aim and objective of the seminar was to spread awareness about conservation of these majestic animal species.