A pygmy hog at Orang. Telegraph picture

Jorhat (Assam), May 19: Small radios, designed by American company Telonics Inc., were implanted in three of the 11 pygmy hogs released at Orang National Park a few days ago.

Gautam Narayan, project director of Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme, told The Telegraph that this was the first time that such radios were implanted in pygmy hogs for proper monitoring. Weighing 8kg to 10kg and standing at 12inches, the pygmy hog (porcula salvania) is the world’s smallest and rarest wild pig. It is a threatened species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has categorised it as critically endangered. It lives in tall, dense grasslands and feeds on roots, tubers and other vegetables as well as insects. it is found only in Assam.

This is the first time that pygmy hogs were released at Orang.

Director Sushil Daila said the wild pigs released at the park were brought from Potasali (Nameri wildlife range) pre-release centre. “Two more hogs will be released shortly,” he said.

Narayan said the implanted radios functioned like radio collars. However, since pygmy hogs were small creatures, it was not possible to tie a collar. “We tried radio harnesses on pygmy hogs released at Sonai-Rupai wildlife sanctuary earlier, but they did not function properly. Therefore, we decided to implant the radios,” Narayan said. A radio harness has two belts tied on the animal — one around the neck and the other around the body — to support the equipment.

“The harness we used earlier for the hogs caused irritation and fell off frequently as the animal moved through tall grass,” Narayan said.

He said the radio implantation had been done on an experimental basis and if successful, it would be used for pygmy hogs to be released in different locations.