Bhopal, Apr 27 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh will soon host wild buffaloes, 150 years after the species was considered “extinct” in the state, with the first batch from the Kaziranga National Park in Assam on its way to the Kanha Tiger Reserve.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is scheduled to release them in KTR on Tuesday, officials said.
As part of its efforts to revive the population of wild buffaloes, Madhya Pradesh is bringing 50 huge animals, weighing 500 kg each, from the northeastern state, they added.
Queried why the government did not choose to bring them from Chhattisgarh, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (wildlife) Subharanjan Sen told PTI that their number is low in the neighbouring state.
Assam was interested in our ghharial (Gavialis gangeticus), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile. If they send a proposal, we will give them, he added.
“The wild buffaloes were the ancestors of the buffaloes whose milk is consumed. We are going to put all the 50 in the eastern part of the KTR, given its proximity to Chhattisgarh,” Sen said, adding that the environment and fodder for them are conducive in eastern KTR.
The four buffaloes are en route to MP in specially-designed vehicles.
KTR veterinarian Dr Sandip Agrawal and his Satpura Tiger Reserve counterpart Dr Gurudutt Sharma, who are part of a team of officials bringing the animals from Assam, said the wild buffaloes are fine.
“We are in Jabalpur, the district adjoining Mandla, where KTR is housed,” they told PTI.
Agrawal and Sharma said that the four animals will be quarantined in enclosures before being released into the wild. PTI LAL NSK
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