The Toda Buffalo, sacred to the Toda tribes in the Nilgiris, is quickly disappearing from the landscape, and this has set the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) on a conservation effort.
The dwindling number of the animal is attributed to the tribal people switching from cattle-rearing to settled agriculture patterns over the last few decades. The Todas also claim that the disappearing grasslands in the Nilgiris had made the rearing of the cattle difficult.
A. Sathyaraj, a Toda resident of a mund near Glenmorgan, and general secretary of the Todar Samuthayam Munnetra Sangam, said the forest department had planted exotic varieties of plants near Toda habitations in the past. “These forests have taken over many grasslands near our habitations over the last few decades, and there is no grass for the buffalos to graze,” he said.
There were more than 10,000 buffaloes near Udhagamandalam and Coonoor more than 15 years ago, said Mr. Sathyaraj, with each family owning up to 10 animals. “Now, there are only 25 buffaloes in each village, with some only having two for temple rituals,” he said.
Conservation efforts are on to push the numbers up. R. Anil Kumar, Professor and Head of the Sheep Breeding Research Station run by TANUVAS, told The Hindu that studies on the animal were conducted by the university.
“Though the milk yield from the Toda Buffalo is low, it is rich in fat content,” Mr. Kumar said.
In association with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), the research station reared 14 male calves and returned them to the Todas. Moreover, embryo and semen from the buffalo have been collected and cryogenically frozen. Till date, 56 embryos and 2,700 doses of semen have been collected.
“This is a collaborative project done with the department of animal biotechnology and the Sabarmathi Ashram Goushala,” Mr. Kumar said.
Mr. Kumar says that the milk from the buffalo should be marketed better and that the tribes should get higher prices in order to encourage the tribes to once again rear the cattle.
