Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has released the first scientific assessment of the Greater Hog Badger, confirming a healthy and widely distributed population within the protected area.

About the Study

• The assessment was conducted by the Tiger Cell of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and The Fishing Cat Project.
• The study used camera-trap data collected during tiger population estimation exercises.
• Researchers estimated at least 55 individual Greater Hog Badgers across nearly 1,100 square kilometres of the park landscape.

About the Greater Hog Badger

• Scientific Name: Arctonyx collaris.
• Local Name: Mati Gahori (Assamese).
• It is a terrestrial mustelid (member of the weasel family) and one of the world’s largest living terrestrial mustelids by average body mass.
• Among the three living hog badger species globally—Greater Hog Badger (Arctonyx collaris), Northern Hog Badger (Arctonyx albogularis), Sumatran Hog Badger (Arctonyx hoevenii)—the first two occur in India.

Habitat and Distribution

• Habitat: Tropical evergreen forests, grasslands, savannas, shrublands, foothills and mountain ecosystems.
• Distribution: Bangladesh, Northeast India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Peninsular Thailand.
• In India, it occurs in Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam, particularly in the Terai and Himalayan foothill regions.

Physical Features

• Stocky body, medium-length brown hair, white throat, elongated white snout with two black stripes, pink pig-like nose, large digging claws.
• Weight: Approximately 7–14 kg.
• Its appearance resembles the European badger but with a more pronounced pig-like snout and stronger forelimbs for digging.

Behaviour and Ecology

• Nocturnal, solitary, territorial and highly shy in nature.
• Uses scent marking on grass, rocks and tree trunks to establish territory.
• Builds underground burrows and actively excavates soil while searching for food.
• Diet: Fruits, roots, insects, earthworms and small animals.

Ecological Importance

• Improves soil aeration, redistributes nutrients, promotes leaf-litter turnover, aids seed germination, creates microhabitats for invertebrates and small vertebrates.
• Considered an important mesocarnivore contributing to ecosystem functioning.

Threats

• Habitat loss, forest fragmentation, poaching and human disturbances.
• The global population trend is declining.

Conservation Status

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Vulnerable.
• Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.

Exam Hook (Prelims)

The Greater Hog Badger (Arctonyx collaris), recently seen in news, is classified under which category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List?
Answer: Vulnerable.

One-Line Wrap

The first scientific assessment of the Greater Hog Badger establishes Kaziranga as an important stronghold for this vulnerable species and highlights the significance of conserving lesser-known mammals alongside flagship wildlife species.

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