Pygmy Hog

Porcula salvania

The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is a very small wild pig of the tall wet grasslands of the Indian subcontinent, now best known from conservation work in Assam. Adults are low, dark, and bristly, with a compact body built for moving through dense grass. Unlike familiar domestic pigs, pygmy hogs are tied to a narrow habitat type that depends on seasonal flooding, grass structure, and careful fire or grazing patterns.

Pygmy hog recovery is a professional conservation effort, not a farm or pet trade activity. Captive breeding and reintroduction programs use controlled enclosures, genetic records, veterinary screening, and staged releases into restored grassland. Field teams monitor signs, camera records, fire timing, invasive plants, and local land-use pressure that can remove the cover these hogs need. Because the species is rare and range-limited, public education and recordkeeping need to present it as a grassland wildlife recovery subject rather than a miniature domestic pig.