Environment and Disaster Management › Species in news
हिन्दी — Read in HindiElephants and other land mammals
Elephants and India's other land mammals as species, from rhinos and wolves to primates, small cats and bats: their status, range and protection, and the counts and corridors they depend on. Prelims has asked about elephant herds, gestation and State populations.
Foundation note: The elephant
Showing 2 of 4 articles, those that changed from 1 to 30 September 2026.Show all
Pygmy hog
Copy link to Pygmy hogPrelims
The pygmy hog is the world's smallest wild pig, found in the wild only in Assam.
- It is Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and is the only surviving species of the genus Porcula.
- It lives only in dense grassland on alluvial floodplains, so its decline is a sign that the grassland is degrading.
- It was believed extinct until it was rediscovered in 1971, and its last natural population is in Manas National Park.
What changed
17 Sep 2026New
- The Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme, running since 1995, has raised Assam's population 32 fold through captive breeding.
- About 250 now live in the wild.
Mains: captive breeding is only insurance; survival in the wild needs restored, unbroken grassland.
The Hindu, 17 Sep 2026: Hog in the limelight: On Assam’s pygmy hog programme (opens in a new tab)
Rhesus macaque
Copy link to Rhesus macaquePrelims and Mains
The rhesus macaque is the common monkey of north Indian towns, and since 2022 it is no longer protected under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- It was listed in Schedule II of the Act until the amendment of 2022 removed it.
- With that, responsibility for managing monkeys passed from State forest departments to urban local bodies.
- Compensation for wildlife attacks, which in Himachal Pradesh covers only species under the Act, no longer applies to it.
What changed
20 Sep 2026New
- A woman in Shimla died after a macaque attack.
- Her family may not qualify for the ₹4 lakh that Himachal Pradesh pays for a death caused by a protected animal.
Mains: the case shows the dilemma of treating monkeys as vermin or as protected animals, with feeding by the public and fewer predators driving them out of forests.