The Government will give all possible help for conservation of mithun, the only animal that is recognized as the State Animal of ‪#‎ArunachalPradesh‬ and ‪#‎Nagaland‬, said the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh. He said that ‘mithun’ has a very significant role to play in the lives of the tribal communities of the ‪#‎NorthEast‬. It also figures in the official seal of the state of Nagaland. Government has set up a new Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Peren last week for conservation of mithun. In Research &Development, ICAR’s NRC Mithun is the only Institute in the world dedicated purely to the research on conservation and improvement of this precious animal species.He further stated that the tribal community in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, ‪#‎Mizoram‬ and ‪#‎Manipur‬ is closely involved in rearing of this bovine species, called `mithun’. Even though, the mithun may be genetically different from other bovine species, it has a genetic resemblance with its ancestor `gaur’.

The total population of mithun in the country is about 3 lakh, of which, Nagaland accounts for 12%. Looking into this meagre population, there is a great need for putting in breeding and conservation efforts in this direction.