2. India is home to more than 90% of the global wild water buffalo population (3,500-3,700 individuals), mainly in two disconnected clusters: northeast and central India. While Assam hosts most of India’s wild buffaloes across various protected areas, smaller populations in Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra’s Kolamarka forests.
3. Once found in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Telangana in central India, it is today confined to small herds in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
4. A 2005 report from the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) showed there were 39-47 wild buffaloes across USTR, Indravati Tiger Reserve (ITR) and Pamed in Bijapur district, with officials estimating that their numbers have declined further to 12-16 individuals.
5. For its part, the forest department has taken several measures to push up the population. In 2015, the Forest Department pinned its hopes on a cloned female wild buffalo, “Deepasha”. The effort has since been abandoned.
6. Officials said the latest plan involves bringing wild buffaloes from Assam and keeping them in enclosures at Pamed Wildlife Sanctuary, USTR and Indravati. This experiment has already been attempted successfully. Over the past few years, six wild buffaloes were brought from Assam to Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary: a male and a female in 2020, and four females in 2023, taking the population there to 11.
Conservation Status of Wild buffalo
7. In India, the wild buffalo enjoys the highest protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
8. The 2016 IUCN Red List for threatened species — a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity — places it in the “endangered” category.
Wild Buffalo Recovery Project
9. The Wild Buffalo Recovery Project is a long-term conservation initiative by the Wildlife Trust of India and the Chhattisgarh Forest Department.
10. It aims to recover the wild buffalo population of central India. Currently, the project is implementing several ex-situ and in-situ interventions in Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, Chhattisgarh.
11. WTI, in collaboration with the forest department, spearheaded the development of a five-year Action Plan, using a multi-pronged approach to ensure their survival and recovery. The Action Plan, which was subsequently approved by the governing council of the project, was comprised of three basic objectives:
(i) Ensuring zero unnatural deaths of the remaining individuals.
(ii) Habitat improvement
(ii) Population augmentation by re-stocking (especially females) from closely related populations or conservation breeding.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: Indian Grey Hornbill
1. A wildlife conservation success story has been quietly unfolding in Gujarat’s Gir forests. The Indian Grey Hornbill, which went extinct in the region during the 1950s and 60s and was reintroduced under a government initiative, has now successfully established territories and produced offspring.
2. Indian grey hornbill (scientific name: Ocyceros birostris) name refers to the unique horn-like beak of this species of birds. Additionally, the male has a noticeable pointed blackish casque at the upper mandible, whereas the female has a less prominent casque. The beak is brownish-black and ivory-white.
3. Indian grey hornbills mainly eat fruits and berries. Due to that, they help in dispersing seeds and expanding forests. Particularly, they are noted in dispersing fig tree seeds. Moreover, they feed on insects, lizards, snails, rodents and bird chicks.
4. As the name suggests, the Indian Grey Hornbill is grey with a yellow-coloured bill with black base, black and white tipped tail and a casque on its beak. It is 50 centimetres in length, weighs about 370 to 400 grams and lives for a decade. It lays 2 to 4 eggs.
The Indian Grey Hornbills were translocated to Gir from healthy hornbill populations in Aravalli forests after extensive habitat assessments confirmed that Gir provided suitable ecological conditions.
5. They usually sit on the topmost branches of the trees, so it is difficult to spot while being under the tree. They are categorised as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Indian grey hornbill has also achieved an honour to be the state bird of Chandigarh.
6. Out of 54 species of hornbills globally, nine are found in India Interestingly, India is home to nine hornbill species, with the northeastern region exhibiting the highest diversity of these species in the country.
Post Read Questions
(1) With reference to the Wild Buffalo, consider the following statements:
1. India is home to more than 90% of the global wild buffalo population.
2. The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
3. It is accorded the highest level of protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
(2) With reference to the Indian Grey Hornbill, consider the following statements:
1. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
2. It plays an important ecological role by dispersing the seeds of fruit-bearing trees.
3. It is the State Bird of Arunachal Pradesh.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer key
1. (d) 2. (a)
(Sources: A race against extinction: Chhattisgarh’s bid to save its last wild buffaloes, Knowledge Nugget | Indian Grey Hornbill returns to Gir: Why it seals its mate inside a tree, wti.org.in)
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The Asiatic wild buffalo is the largest wild bovine in the world, weighing twice as much as its less muscular cousin. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) 
The Indian Grey Hornbills were translocated to Gir from healthy hornbill populations in Aravalli forests after extensive habitat assessments confirmed that Gir provided suitable ecological conditions.
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