GUWAHATI The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has released the first scientific assessment report on the greater hog badger (Arctonyx collaris), a nocturnal small burrowing omnivore mammal called ‘mati gahori’ in Assamese.

Conducted by Kaziranga’s Tiger Cell in collaboration with Wildlife Conservation Trust and The Fishing Cat Project, the study has confirmed that the globally vulnerable species, protected under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, is thriving in the park’s diverse habitat.

Officials said that the density and habitat occupancy of greater hog badgers within the tiger reserve were assessed from camera-trap images available from past tiger estimation data.

At least 55 individual greater hog badgers are estimated in approximately 1,100 sq. km area of the park studied, indicating a healthy and potentially viable population widely distributed throughout the landscape. “However, this outcome is a preliminary estimate and further work is needed to improve it, using detection covariate data not available to us at present,” a government statement said.

Assam’s Environment and Forests Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said the camera-trap by-catch data recorded more than 60 greater hog badgers. “The healthy presence of this elusive, nocturnal burrower across diverse habitats reflects the strength of Kaziranga’s ecosystems,” he said.

Hog badgers are distributed across parts of South, Central, and Southeast Asia. Its range extends from Bangladesh and northeastern India eastwards through Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam, south to Cambodia and peninsular Thailand.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an exact global population count of hog badgers is unavailable, and the population trend is decreasing due to habitat loss and intense poaching pressure.

Globally, there are three extant species of this mammal—the greater hog badger, the northern hog badger (Arctonyx albogularis), and the Sumatran hog badger (Arctonyx hoevenii). The first two are found in India.

The greater hog badger, the largest among these three species, contributes to ecosystem function as a highly fossorial mammal (a term for animals adapted for digging, burrowing, or living primarily underground) through soil disturbance, nutrient redistribution, and leaf litter turnover during foraging. Such digging behaviour enhances soil aeration and may facilitate seed germination and micro-habitat formation for invertebrates and small vertebrates.

Wildlife experts said the number of greater hog badgers has declined across their Southeast Asian range, with India and Thailand believed to have healthy populations at present.