Guwahati (Assam) [India], June 14 : Assam's Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has unveiled the first scientific assessment report of the Greater Hog Badger (Arctonyx collaris), a nocturnal small burrowing mammal locally called 'Mati Gahori' (Assamese), confirming that the globally vulnerable species, protected under Schedule I of India's Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is thriving in the park's diverse habitat.

The report was released on June 12.
The study was conducted by Kaziranga's Tiger Cell in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and Tiasa Adhya of The Fishing Cat Project, with the objective of estimating the density and habitat occupancy of greater hog badgers within the Tiger Reserve by assessing the camera-trap images available from past All India Tiger Estimation data.
Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve, said that at least 55 individual Hog badgers are estimated in approximately 1100 sq km area, which indicates a healthy and potentially viable population widely distributed throughout the landscape.
"However, this outcome is a preliminary estimate and further work is needed to improve it, using detection covariate data not available to us at present," Ghosh said.
Assam Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah said, "The first scientific assessment using camera-trap bycatch data has recorded over 60 Greater Hog Badgers in the park. The healthy presence of this elusive, nocturnal burrower across diverse habitats reflects the strength of Kaziranga's ecosystems. Every species, big or small, plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance and biodiversity."
"Globally, there are three extant species of hog badgers, the greater hog badger A. collaris, northern hog badger A. albogularis and Sumatran hog badger A. hoevenii, of which the first two occur in India. Among these, the greater hog badgers are the largest in size. Hog badgers are distributed across parts of South, Central and Southeast Asia. Its range extends from Bangladesh and northeastern India eastwards through Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam, south to Cambodia and peninsular Thailand. According to IUCN, an exact global population count is not available, but the population trend is decreasing due to habitat loss and intense poaching pressure, for which the species is listed as Vulnerable," Ghosh further said.
"The Greater Hog Badger is an ecologically important mesocarnivore whose conservation in Kaziranga National Park has implications beyond the persistence of a single species. As an omnivorous and highly fossorial mammal, the species contributes to ecosystem functioning through soil disturbance, nutrient redistribution, and the turnover of leaf litter during foraging activities. Such digging behaviour enhances soil aeration and may facilitate seed germination and microhabitat formation for invertebrates and small vertebrates," she added.
She also said that the Greater Hog Badger is quite sensitive to hunting and has massively declined in its Southeast Asian range, with probably only India and Thailand having a healthy population at present.
"This makes it a (much) higher conservation priority in the South Asian parts, notably in Assam and NE India. This region is much more internationally significant than might be assumed from a casual look at a global range map, and the finding from Kaziranga helps to prove this point," Ghosh added.