Eight wild buffaloes from Kaziranga released in Kanha, returning the species to MP

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The news

Kanha (Madhya Pradesh). Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Sunday, October 11, released eight wild buffaloes, six females and two males, into a 17-hectare enclosure in Kanha Tiger Reserve, part of efforts to reintroduce the species in the State “after nearly a century”, The Indian Express reports (PTI). The animals came from Kaziranga National Park in Assam, about 2,200 km away, with help from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. They were moved from a one-hectare quarantine enclosure in the Supkhar range after completing quarantine. Reintroduction means bringing a species back to an area where it once lived but has died out; a soft release, through a large enclosure first, lets animals settle before they roam free.

Prelims nuggets

The wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
The wild buffalo is the State animal of Chhattisgarh.
Kaziranga National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
Kanha Tiger Reserve is known for the recovery of the hard-ground barasingha, Madhya Pradesh’s State animal.