Few months ago, a woman near Ranthambhore lost her hands after two bombs exploded by accident. She was not a terrorist; the incident happened when she was handling two dough wrapped bombs, which her husband had prepared for hunting wild pigs. When pigs eat them, they blast in the mouth and killed the pigs. Similar incidents have been occurring commonly with people from the traditional hunting tribe when they try to plant bombs to kill wild pigs. This is a common practice to hunt down wild pigs.

Yes, it is illegal to hunt wild pigs in our country, but in some states permissions are granted for legalised hunting; however, these animals are very important prey bases for our diminishing predators. Wild pigs are resilient species; they are prolific breeders, which makes them a survivor despite the human pressure.

Wild boars were mainly found in north Africa and much of Eurasia but now it has been introduced in the Americas and the Australian continent where it was not found originally. It is not found in the dry desert areas. But, interestingly, as the canal was built in Rajasthan, the wild boars too walked in the region. Although, there is still a lot of debate and taxonomic work left to do, there are about 21 different sub species recorded and of these, three sub species are found in India. One species is found only in the south and Sri Lanka, one is found in the central India and northern parts. The third is found in Gujarat but it is originally from Iran.

They are usually omnivorous surviving on fruits, grasses and roots. However, there are instances when they hunt down monkeys and smaller animals. They are tough animals and the male in the bunch can chase away animals such as hyena, wolves and even leopards, when attacked. The primary conflict is with man: Pigs would often raid the crops and are known to be the most notorious crop destroyers and at night herds of wild boars can finish off the crops of maize, peanuts, potatoes and wheat in a night despite fences. For this reason they are the biggest enemies of the farmers. In turn, farmers employ men from hunting tribe to protect the crops. These tribesmen are also into big cat hunting, but wild pigs are what sustain them. Because hunters cannot kill tigers often but wild pig could be killed easily; and also because there is local demand for its lard and meat and could be sold easily in the local markets.

The world’s rarest wild pig is found in the narrow belt of the southern edge of the Himalayas. The pygmy pig was thought to have been extinct in 1960. However, it was rediscovered in 1971 amidst tall grass habitats of Manas in Assam and the Himalayas. The area is rich in alluvial soil and this brings it under noteworthy pressure for agriculture and uninhibited harvesting, which has significantly decreased the pygmy pigs population. The practices of dry season burning and livestock grazing have also compounded the problem. An individual researcher, Goutam Narayan, working with the BNHS has done remarkable work for the world’s tiniest pigs. He strongly believes that if we can save these small creatures we would also be saving the grasslands in which they are surviving. Every species has its own importance in the ecosystem and it is important to maintain this ecosystem for the overall survival of the universe.

(The writer is a conservation biologist at

Tiger Watch, Ranthambore)