Guwahati, Sept. 12 -- Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday highlighted the significant recovery of the endangered pygmy hog, with its population increasing from just six animals to 194 following decades of conservation efforts.

In a post on X, Sarma described the species' recovery as "a remarkable story of conservation, patience and decades of dedicated effort".

Calling it a "small hog" with a "big comeback", the chief minister set a target of increasing the pygmy hog population to 300 by 2040.

According to information shared as part of a conservation display, the pygmy hog had once been pushed close to extinction. A dedicated conservation and captive-breeding programme was launched using six pygmy hogs collected from M...