Indian Bison and Koya tribe

• The indigenous Koya tribe inhabiting the Papikonda hill range along the rivers Godavari and Sabari in Andhra Pradesh have decided to do away with millennia-old traditions in an attempt to conserve the Indian Bison (Bos gaurus).
• Papikondalu hill range or the’ Bison hill range,’ is home to the Indian Bison.
  • In 1978, a portion of the hill range was declared a sanctuary, with Indian Bison as its megafauna species.
  • The sanctuary was declared as a national park was made in 2008.

ABOUT KOYA TRIBE

• Known as Koya, Koitur in their dialect.
• Population is mainly found in hilly and forested regions of Andhra pradesh , Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
• Speak the Koya language (Koya basha), a Dravidian language related to Gondi.
  • They also speak Odia and Telugu languages.
• Traditionally they are pastoralists and shifting cultivators. Some are artisans specializing in bamboo furniture and crafts.
• Pendul is commonly practiced form of marriage.
• The Koyas adopted Bison horns to discover their two cultural forms:
  • the Kommu Koya dance, during which two Bison horns are adorned on the head as part of the attire, and
  • the Permakore flute, which is made of a single horn.
    • The Koyas have moved on from using traditional Indian Bison horns to palm leaves to craft their traditional flute, Permakore.
    • In the Koya language, ‘Permam’ stands for Indian Bison or Guar, and ‘Kore’ stands for ‘horn’, and thus, the flute made of Bison horn is called Permakore.
    • On one corner of the horn is a bamboo pipe inserted from where the air is blown into the horn to produce sound.
    • The Permakore is played at a designated time and place to give a call to the entire village to go hunting in the forest.

ABOUT INDIA BISON OR GAUR (BOS GAURUS)

• Indian Bison is the tallest species of wild cattle found in India and largest extant bovine.
• About 13,000 to 30,000 gaurs in the world with approximately 85% of the population present in India.
• They prefer evergreen forests and moist deciduous forests but can survive in dry deciduous forests also.
• The Indian Bison is herbivorous by nature, moves in groups, and preys mainly on bamboo leaves.
• It is also the State Animal of Goa and Bihar.
• Protection status
  • IUCN Red List- Vulnerable
  • Wild Life Protection Act, 1972- Schedule I