Wild Buffalo Reintroduction in Madhya Pradesh

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | Environment | Species

Why in news?

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh released eight wild buffaloes from a small enclosure into a larger enclosure spread over 17 hectares.

About the reintroduction Programme – The 8 wild buffaloes were brought from Kaziranga National Park in Assam, including six females and two males.
Aim – To strengthen biodiversity conservation and restore the species to its former habitat in Madhya Pradesh.
After the monsoon season, the animals are expected to move towards the next stage of adaptation to their natural surroundings.
Target – To bring a total of 50 wild buffaloes back to the Kanha region over the next three years.

Indian Wild Buffalo

Scientific name – Bubalus arnee.
It is also known as the wild water buffalo. The Asian buffalo is an endangered bovid native to the Indian subcontinent and the ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.
Distribution – India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and Thailand. In India, the wild buffaloes are found in Assam and Chhattisgarh.
Habitat – Inhabits wet grasslands, floodplains, marshes, and river valleys with access to wallows and water holes.
Size & Weight – Weighs between 600 and 1,200 kg with massive, crescent-shaped horns spanning up to 2 meters (the longest horns of any bovid).
Diet – They are preferential grazers, feeding mostly on graminoids (grasses) and sedges, though they occasionally raid crops like rice and sugarcane.

Wild buffalo.upsc

Conservation Status
- IUCN – Threatened.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 – Schedule I.
State Animal – Designated as the state animal of Chhattisgarh.
Threats – Crossbreeding with domestic buffalo, poaching, shrinkage and destruction of the habitat.

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