Pair of wild buffalo brought to Barnawapara
19 Apr 2020 10:17:48
Staff Reporter :
RAIPUR,
After a long drawn out planning and execution, the Forest Department finally arrived with a pair of wild buffalo sub-adult calves at Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary from Assam amidst lockdown. An 18-member Forest Department team, which left Assam on April 15, reached Barnawapara on Saturday. The pair of female and male buffalo has presently been kept in a large paddock at Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary. Chhattisgarh Forest Department had conceived importing wild buffaloes from Assam to reintroduce the buffalo population, which is on the verge of extinction, in jungles of Chhattisgarh.
The Department had initially planned to import 5 buffaloes from Assam and brought two in the first phase. The team was led by Dr Rakesh Verma, who monitored the health of State animals along the way. Since the Indian Railways has suspended a majority of its trains till lockdown, forest officials transported the buffaloes in a truck by road. Talking to The Hitavada, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Atul Shukla told that for now, they have only brought two buffaloes as they could only manage to catch two. They have made all the necessary arrangements at Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary.
On the acclimatisation of buffaloes to the heat of Chhattisgarh summer, PCCF Shukla assured that the Manas National Park, from where the buffaloes have been brought, also records very high temperature in summer. He was confident that the sub-adult buffaloes will attune to the local climate gradually. It’s to be noted that wild buffaloes of Manas live in marshy regions close to rivers, but the Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary doesn’t any such marshland or river. On this issue, PCCF stated that they have taken care of every requirement of the Buffaloes. Also, the region of Barnawapara was a natural habitat of a large wild buffalo population not so long ago. The buffaloes will be kept at Barnawapara till they attain the age of reproduction. The breeding of buffaloes will be carried and they will only be released into the wild after reaching a certain number.