Hand-reared buffalo released in the wild in Assam

In the first major conservation effort in 30 years at Laokhowa Burasapori Wildlife Sanctuary, a hand-reared male wild buffalo was returned to the forest after two years under human care.
The buffalo had been separated from its mother when it was a week-old calf in December 2010 near Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Assam, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) sources said today.
Prior to being released it was moved from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) run by International Fund for Animal Welfare-Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) to a 'boma' (enclosure) in the sanctuary, near here, as part of its acclimatisation here.

It was mildly sedated to minimise stress during its two-hour journey from CWRC to Laokhowa sanctuary and was under the observation of IFAW-WTI veterinarians before being released, the sources said.
The wild buffalo was released in Laokhowa, as threats are lesser there compared to Kaziranga Nation Park (KNP), where there is high density of tigers, KNP director and project leader-CWRC N K Vasu said.
This was the first major conservation initiative after 1983 and would help in enhancing the resident buffalo population of Laokhowa sanctuary, which was ignored for long, Laokhowa Divisional Forest Officer, Shiv Kumar said.

"We have earlier released three hand-raised wild buffaloes to Dibru Saikhowa sanctuary from CWRC," WTI project adviser, Rathin Barman said.

Categorised as 'endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) faces threats like habitat loss, disease transmission from cattle as well as conflicts among others.
There are about 4000 such animals in the wild across its distribution range, the sources added.