During the 1962 war there were many ponies and mules that were privately owned by families in Rupa. They would carry load during the annual winter migrations. D.K. Thongdok’s family had two ponies named zorpu and zamu and a mule named airpo. When fleeing down to Assam, D.K. Thongdok recalls how his father had to let zamu and airpo go into the Khellong forests with a very heavy heart. They then had to stay in a refugee camp in Assam. In his book, the War on Buddha, he gives a first-hand account of their lives in a refugee camp. The good news was that on returning, airpo and zamu eventually returned to them.
