Reintroduction of Wild Buffaloes in Kanha Tiger Reserve

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Key takeaways

Madhya Pradesh is reintroducing the wild water buffalo in Kanha Tiger Reserve after a gap of nearly 100 years.
The first batch arrived after a 2,200 km journey from Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
The state plans to expand this herd to 50 wild buffaloes over three years before a full release into nature.
The wild buffalo is legally guarded under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Madhya Pradesh has started bringing wild buffaloes back to Kanha Tiger Reserve after a long absence of nearly 100 years from its forests.

Forest officials brought these buffaloes from Kaziranga National Park in Assam, covering an overland journey of around 2,200 km.
Crews placed the animals in a one-hectare quarantine enclosure in the Supkhar range first, moving them later to a 17-hectare area to help them adapt before releasing them into the open wild.
Madhya Pradesh aims to build a healthy population of 50 wild buffaloes over three years before letting them roam freely in their natural habitat.
Authorities selected Supkhar for this release because historical records confirm that wild buffaloes lived in this landscape earlier.

The wild buffalo, known scientifically as Bubalus arnee or the wild water buffalo, mainly lives in the lush grasslands of Northeast India, especially in Assam.
In earlier times, these animals roamed across south-eastern Madhya Pradesh, north-eastern Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, northern Telangana, northern Andhra Pradesh, and pockets of Jharkhand.
These grazers thrive in wet grasslands, swamps, marshes, and river valleys, and historically favored the sal forests and open meadows of Central India, particularly in present-day Chhattisgarh.
The IUCN Red List classifies the species as Endangered.
The species enjoys the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.