Learn more about the team
The Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PCHP) is a 30-year-old programme and Durrell has been working with the pygmy hog since 1971. The PHCP team was just three people in 1996 with one site, now we work across 9 sites with 29 staff and are also stepping outside of Assam.
We are a very young team; 70% of us are under 30 and are committed to this project for the long haul.
At least 35% of the team have been working with us for more than 8 years (3 of them for over 25 years, and 3 of them for over 15 years).
Both the team and site started expanding following the launch of our Rewild Our World strategy in 2020. Now the programme is actively engaging an additional species, the Bengal florican.
This team started the project with 6 hogs in 1996 and have now released 179 hogs and established one population so far.
A day in the life
- All of the teams have different work plans and priorities. Their activities also change depending on the season.
- The captive breeding teams at Basistha and Potasali are mostly engaged in animal husbandry and site maintenance. Occasionally they work on captures if necessary for animal movement and veterinary procedures.
- The habitat restoration team need to collect the manual labour workforce for the Eco-Development Committee in the morning and take them inside the park for the removal of weeds. They then return them to the villages and back to the camp later in the day. Occasionally, they also collect data.
- The animal monitoring team at the moment go to Rupahi to conduct radiotelemetry of hogs. They also do sign surveys of hogs and install camera traps from time to time during the right season.
- The Bengal florican team monitors the Bengal florican from morning to evening.
- Our community team goes to the market each day to survey the products being sold from the park as part of monitoring anthropogenic pressure and to also collect information on wildlife depredation. They are responsible for delivering nature connection education and deliver sessions in schools. They also hold meetings with women self-help groups and arrange community biosecurity meetings.
- At HQ, we communicate with all of the teams on the ground and undertake day-to-day admin work with our partner Aaranyak.
Meet the team
Research and Breeding Centre, Basistha
The team:
- Leons Mathew Abraham
- Monora Begum
- Lutar Ch Mara
- Kalpajyoti Nath
- Parag Deka
What we do:
- Breed and prepare hogs for release
- Leons also joins in with Bengal florican monitoring in Assam
Picture features Ben and Georgia, Curator and Deputy Curator of Mammals at Jersey Zoo
PHCP pre-release centre, Potasali
The team:
- Debjani Borah
- Bhaben Hazarika
- Tulshi Nath
- Grikseng Ch Marak
- Rudra Gogoi
- Raju Mili
- Kishur Payeng
- Nripen Kro
- Genius Teron
What we do:
- Breed and prepare hogs for release
- Debjani also works for community biosecurity for domestic pigs and Manas and Potasali
Community team, Manas, Bansbari
The team:
- Amal Deka
- Binu Das
What we do:
- Work with the community to reduce anthropogenic pressure, improve livelihoods and nature connection and raise African swine fever awareness
Rewilding Camp, Bansbari
The team:
- Dhritiman Das
- Jonmani Kalita
- Raju Das
- Amal Deka
- Koushik Rajbongshi
- Dwipendra Narayan Dev
What we do:
- Wild and reintroduced pygmy hog monitoring at Manas, and Orang
- Habitat restoration across Manas and Orang
Rewilding Camp, Panbari
The team:
- Karan Barman
- Niranjan Barman
- Jonmnai Kalita
- Genius Teron
What we do:
- Habitat restoration at Panbari, Manas
Bengal Florican Camp, Kokilabari
The team:
- Karishma Sarma
- Sonia Rabha
What we do:
- Bengal florican Monitoring and engaged with community to save the Bengal florican in the human landscape
Rewilding Camp, Orang
The team:
- Hirak Das
- Karishma Sarma
- Koushik Rajbongshi
What we do:
- Habitat restoration and Population monitoring at Orang
Project HQ
The team:
- Dhritiman Das
What we do:
- Field activity coordination and scientific coordination
- Assist in Project management and coordination
- Project management, External and PHCP partner coordination, back-up vet, Captive population studbook keeper
Programme Director
- Dr Parag Deka
What I do:
- Project management, external and PHCP partner coordination, back-up vet and captive population studbook keeper
What is the best part about my job?
- Generating ideas for conservation based on the observations (on our conservation targets).
- Designing solutions to overcome challenges faced by the team on the ground, enabling the team to deliver.
- Building the teams expertise and experience whilst securing the future generation for the project.
- And of course, working with hogs whenever I get an opportunity.