Pygmy hog: The smallest member of the pig

The smallest member of the pig family, the pygmy hog (porcula salvania), is a critically endangered species. Once found along a narrow strip of tall and wet grassland plains on the Himalayan foothills – from Uttar Pradesh to Assam, through Nepal’s terai areas and Bengal’s duars – it was thought to have become extinct in the 1960s. But in 1971 it was “re-discovered” with a small population in the Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary. Porcula salvania Hodgson, 1847 - Pygmy Hog Subspecies in India This species is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (https://www.iucnredlist.org/). The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is an endangered species of pig and the only member of its genus. These tiny mammals were once believed to be extinct by the 1960s due to large-scale habitat loss and human interference. DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS Pygmy hog measures about 65 em (25 inches) in length and 25 em (1 0 inches) in height and weighs 8 to 9 kg. Females are a little smaller and the newborn babies weigh only 150 to 200 g. A vestigial tail (2.5 em or 1 inch in adults) and only three pairs of mammae distinguishes it from the wild pig (Sus scrota) which, despite being much larger, often gets confused with pygmy hogs. The pygmy hog is locally called No/ Gahori or Takuri Borah in Assamese, Oma Thakhri in Bodo ...