Buffalo “Princesses” Translocated

Kaziranga, 27 December, 2006: In a pioneering move, the Wildlife Trust of India(WTI) successfully translocated two hand reared wild buffaloes calves (Bubalus arnee) in its custody, to their release site deep inside the riverine Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in the North-East Indian state of Assam.

The entire exercise took two days, two trucks, two boats, and two palanquins that were carried by a 30 people each on foot over a distance of over 300 kilometers. “We have translocated many animals in the past including rhinos and elephants, but this was the most complicated” Dr Anjan Talukdar, WTI veterinarian said.

The calves, named B1 and B2, were hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) adjacent to the Kaziranga National Park. B1, a male, came to CWRC as a five-day old calf on August 8, 2002. It had been orphaned after being swept away in the floods. B2, also a male, came on November 19, 2003 after being found abandoned in the forest.

B1, which weighs a ton, and B2, which is about 700 kilograms, were sedated around five pm on the evening of Christmas day and loaded on to separate mini trucks. “We lined the sides with banana trunks and put a mixture of mud and straw on the floor, to protect them from injuries,” Rathin Burman, Manager, WTI’s Wild Rescue division, in charge of the operation said.

“It was important that their journey, which was pretty long, was comfortable and peaceful. We thus decided to transport them at night when the traffic was sparse,” Dr Talukdar said.

After loading them and waiting to check if the animals were stable, the trucks moved around 7.30 pm on their 310 kilometer journey. However, just two hours later Dr Talukdar found to his horror that the calves were waking up. “This was certainly not on the script and we had to give them additional sedation so that they did not wake up disoriented and injure themselves,” Burman said.

Suitably fortified, the caravan moved at a slow pace to reach the Saikhowa range around 0600 am on the morning of December 26. “From here the calves were loaded on to a boat at a makeshift jetty made for them. But before that they had to be put into boxes, which was quite a difficult task,” Dr Talukdar said. The boat journey was about 45 minutes.

“And from here they went like medieval princesses in palanquins carried by 30 people each through a three kilometer slushy and muddy path that took over three hours,” Burman said.

By 2 pm they had arrived at the special enclosure created for them on a river island in Kalia camp of Saikhowa range. The enclosure had been prepared more than a month in advance and had a lush cover of grass. There is an anti-poaching camp there as well with a watch tower for a round the clock vigil. The WTI project team has also set up a field station here and would also stay on the island.

“After the reversal drugs were administered, B1 was the first to show signs of waking up and trying to stand up. B2 was still very drowsy around 430 pm. But by late evening both had revived  and started grazing hungrily, which was a very happy sign and showed that they had completely recovered and were beginning to accept the new environment,” Prabal Sarkar, WTI’s senior field officer, in charge of the re-introduction project said.

“A soft release method will be followed. The buffaloes will remain in their enclosure for at least two years, to get habituated to their new surroundings before their ultimate release into the wild,” he added.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, government of India and the Assam Forest Department had given permission for the translocation and the subsequent rehabilitation in November 2006.

Wild buffalo is an endangered species and is listed under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. It is under threat throughout its range in India due to genetic contamination by hybridization with domestic buffaloes.

The reintroduction project is a joint initiative of Wildlife Trust of India and its partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and the Assam Forest Department.