Pygmy hog

The pygmy hog, Porcula salvania, is a very small and endangered species of pig and the only species in the genus Porcula. It is endemic to India and lives in the alluvial grasslands at the foot of the Himalayas at elevations up to 300 metres. It was once widespread in a narrow belt of tall, wet grassland from north-western Uttar Pradesh to Assam, and it was thought to be extinct in the early 1960s until a small population was rediscovered in 1971 near the Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam. The only known population now lives in Manas National Park. An adult weighs between 6.6 and 9.7 kilograms, which makes it the smallest pig. The IUCN lists it as Endangered, with about 500 mature individuals, and captive breeding and release programmes are under way.