Wild Buffalos go Back to the Wild

On 26th December 2006, two wild buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) were successfully translocated from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga National Park to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in the North-East Indian state of Assam.

CWRC is a joint initiative of Wildlife Trust of India and IFAW in partnership with the Assam Forest Department for the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals of the region.

The first buffalo, a male, came to CWRC as a less-than-week-old calf on 8th August 2002. It had been orphaned after being swept away by floods. It was stabilized by CWRC veterinarians in the nursery, hand-raised by keepers and housed in a paddock at the centre.

On 19th November 2003, the buffalo calf got the company of another juvenile male buffalo calf which had been found displaced at Gorajan, Bagori in Assam.

Both the calves were being looked after by the CWRC staff in anticipation of their release sometime in the future.

The challenge of moving two buffalos

The Emergency Relief team at CWRC in India has translocated many animals in the past including rhinos, tigers, Himalayan black bears and many species of deer. However, none of these moves were as complicated as the buffalo translocation, as it involved transport of the animals in three stages: by truck, boat and by foot in a palanquin. The animals had to be kept under sedation for the entire duration as any attempt to struggle would botch the endeavour.

On the day of the move, the buffalos were sedated and placed in their respective trucks for transport to Dibru-Saikhowa. They were not crated so as to avoid the possibility of causing harm to themselves because of their large horns.

At Dhala in Saikhowa range, where the road ended, each buffalo was then transferred to a boat and transported along the river Brahmaputra to the next point. The calves were then offloaded and carried on foot in a specially made palanquin. For this purpose 50 people were needed. Twenty-four at a time carried the two calves with the remaining labourers on standby to take over when the first group became tired.

Successful buffalo release into the New Boma

The buffalos that left CWRC at 8PM on 25th December 2006 finally reached their destination by noon the next day. They will be held in a boma on a river island in Kalia camp of Saikhowa range. The boma was prepared more than a month before their arrival.

A soft release method is being followed whereby the buffalos will remain in the boma for at least two years to become habituated to their new surroundings before their ultimate release into the wild. The latest update from the staff is that both buffalos have recovered from the effects of the tranquilizer and started to graze. This is an excellent sign as it marks acceptance of the new environment.