Kouprey | |
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The holotype specimen, a young bull at the Paris Zoological Park, 1937 | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Bovinae |
Genus: | Bos |
Species: | B. sauveli |
Binomial name | |
Bos sauveli Urbain, 1937 | |
Geographic range | |
Synonyms | |
Bos (Bibos) sauveli(Urbain, 1937) [3] Contents |
The kouprey (Bos sauveli), also known as the forest ox and grey ox, is a possibly extinct species of forest-dwelling wild bovine native to Southeast Asia. It was first scientifically described in 1937. The name kouprey is derived from the Khmer language and means "forest ox". [4]
The kouprey is listed as Critically Endangered and possibly extinct or extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List. [2] The last confirmed sighting of a wild individual took place in 1969. [5]
The kouprey was described by Achille Urbain in 1937 based on an adult individual that was caught in northern Cambodia and was kept at the Paris Zoological Park. [3]
In 2006, a comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequences indicated that the kouprey may be a hybrid between zebu and banteng. [6] However, the authors of the study rescinded their conclusion. [7] In 2021, it was established that the kouprey represents a distinct species unrelated to zebu, forming a polytomy with the banteng and gaur due to incomplete lineage sorting, suggesting extensive hybridisation between their ancestors and resulting in the mitochondrial DNA of kouprey being nested within a group including a mixture of both banteng and gaur. [8]
Relationships of members of the genus Bos based on nuclear genomes after Sinding, et al. 2021. [8]
Bos |
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The kouprey has a light and gracile build, in comparison to other wild cattle species. Both sexes have notched nostrils. [9] It is 2.1–2.2 m (7–7.3 ft) long from nose to rear, 1.7–1.9 m (5.6–6.3 ft) tall at the shoulders and weighs 700–900 kg (1,500–2,000 lb). [10]
Calves have a reddish bay colour and turn grey at around 5 months of age. [9] Their horns start appearing at the age of 6 months. [11] The pelage of cows and bulls diverges as they mature; cows turn a mouse to brownish grey, while bulls become progressively darker, until individuals of 12 years or older are entirely dark brown. Both sexes have white stockings, with a dark strip down the front of each foreleg. [9]
Kouprey are a sexually dimorphic species and along with having different colour coats, males and females are distinguishable by the remarkably different shapes of their horns. Those of bulls are widely-set, similar to those of wild yaks, growing outwards before arching forwards and upwards, eventually fraying at the tips. While those of cows spiral upwards, growing into a shape reminiscent of a lyre. The horns of bulls reach up to 810 mm (32 in), and those of cows up to 410 mm (16 in). [10]
Bull kouprey develop large dewlaps as they age, with those of mature individuals reaching lengths of 16 inches (40 cm) long. In some cases, the dewlap is so pronounced that it drags along the ground. [10]
The range of the kouprey once stretched from southeastern Thailand and southern Laos to the western edge of Vietnam and northern Cambodia. [12] Archaeological evidence shows that it also occurred in northern Yunnan, China. [13]
The primary habitat of the kouprey is described as a mix of open grassland and dense open canopy forests featuring grassy glades, waterholes and salt licks. [12]
Kouprey behaviour is described as similar to that of the banteng, with the two species often being found grazing alongside each other, though not intermixing. Herds, made up of cows, their calves, and periodically bulls, are always led by a mature cow. [9] Kouprey are active, if nervous, animals, being quick to flee if approached. [12] Bulls have been observed to plough up soil with their horns, especially around mineral licks and waterholes, which leads to the tips fraying. [9]
To avoid the hottest parts of the day, kouprey feed during the early morning and late afternoon, moving into denser forest for respite during midday. Little information is available on the animal's diet, though various grasses and some browse, supplemented with mineral soil, have been recorded. [12]
Kouprey come together to mate during the month of April, with bulls dispersing back into bachelor herds by the beginning of May. [9] Gestation is between 8 and 9 months, with cows giving birth to a single calf between December and February. Female kouprey will isolate themselves to give birth, and remain away from the herd with their calf for the first month of its life. The total lifespan of a kouprey is thought to be around 20 years. [10]
The kouprey is thought to have never been numerous, likely never exceeding 2,000 individuals during the 20th century. [14] In 1989, the total kouprey population in Cambodia was estimated at less than 200 individuals, with between 40 and 100 surviving in Laos, and less than 30 in Vietnam. [12] As of 2016, the IUCN Red List puts the wild population at no more than 50 individuals, with a decreasing population trend. [2] Kouprey have been hunted by local people for their meat, horns and skulls, the latter being highly symbolic culturally. [14]
Trophy hunting has likely been a considerable pressure on kouprey since their discovery by the Western world in the 1930s. War and political conflict, such as the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War, [14] have also played a role in the species' decline through the destruction of habitat, poaching, and significantly disrupting conservation efforts and further study of the animal in the wild. [12] Snares are a potential risk for any surviving kouprey, [15] with a 2020 report by the World Wildlife Fund estimating that over 12.2 million snares were present within protected areas in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. [16]
Conservation efforts for the kouprey began in 1960 when Norodom Sihanouk, then head of state of Cambodia, gave the species protected status and created three natural reserves for it. These protected areas continued to be maintained by Norodom Sihanouk's successor, Lon Nol, but became neglected during the time of Khmer Rouge rule under Pol Pot. [17] During this period, the majority of the country's Forestry Bureau staff were killed, and all documents relating to the reserves were destroyed. [12]
Despite several expeditions by Dr. Charles H. Wharton to document kouprey during the 1950s, conservation efforts did not truly pick up again until the 1980s when, on the 15th and 16 January 1988, the University of Hanoi hosted the International Workshop on the Kouprey: Conservation Programme. Headed and coordinated by the IUCN, in collaboration with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, this had the aim of creating a feasible and realistic action plan for immediate kouprey conservation. Other organizations that attended and contributed to the action plan were the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Centre for Environmental Studies, VNIUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), the Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, as well as WWF International. [12]
A 2011 examination by the IUCN of camera trap photos from northern Cambodia, some taken in known kouprey habitat, failed to turn up evidence of the animal. [5] In late 2022, researchers from Re:wild and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research began a study to determine the status of kouprey in the wild. The goal of the study, through the examination of historical surveys and camera trap records, is to determine whether or not there is still suitable kouprey habitat that has yet to be searched. [15]
Only two kouprey have ever been kept in zoos. A young male was captured in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia, and sent to the Paris Zoological Park by a French veterinarian. [18] It arrived at the zoo in April 1937 and was housed alongside a juvenile gaur and a juvenile water buffalo. [19] It died sometime during World War II. [20] Another calf was kept in a captive setting by Norodom Sihanouk during the 1950s, though details surrounding this individual are limited. [11]
Potential depictions of kouprey in rock art have been documented in the Cardamon Mountains of Cambodia, [21] and carvings in the temples of Angkor Wat have been found to resemble the animal as well. [20]
The kouprey is the national animal of Cambodia, being designated as such by Norodom Sihanouk in 1960, [18] its name is also the nickname of the country's national football team.
Several statues depicting and dedicated to the kouprey have been established across Cambodia, including in the country's capital city, Phnom Penh. [15]
During the 2022 Miss Grand Cambodia contest, model Pich Votey Saravody wore a costume depicting a kouprey, which stirred considerable controversy amongst viewers, many of whom felt the depiction disrespected the animal. [22]
The aurochs is an extinct species of bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to 180 cm (71 in) in bulls and 155 cm (61 in) in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene; it had massive elongated and broad horns that reached 80 cm (31 in) in length.
A bison is a large bovine in the genus Bison within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
The European bison or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent, the zubr, or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American bison. The European bison is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe, and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day descendants. During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, bison became extinct in much of Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern Caucasus Mountains. During the early years of the 20th century, bison were hunted to extinction in the wild.
Bovines comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this group are classified into loose tribes rather than formal subgroups, as the evolutionary relationships within the groups are still uncertain. General characteristics include cloven hooves and usually at least one of the sexes of a species having true horns. The largest extant bovine is the gaur.
Bos is a genus of bovines, which includes, among others, wild and domestic cattle.
The gaur is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 mature individuals in 2016, with the majority of those existing in India.
The yak, also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox, hairy cattle, or domestic yak, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Nepal, Sikkim (India), the Tibetan Plateau (China), Tajikistan and as far north as Mongolia and Siberia. It is descended from the wild yak.
The Heck or Munich-Berlin is a German breed or type of domestic cattle. It was bred in the 1920s by Heinz and Lutz Heck in an attempt to breed back the extinct aurochs. Controversy revolves around methodology and success of the programme. There are considerable differences between Heck cattle and the aurochs in build, height, and body proportions. Furthermore, there are other cattle breeds which resemble their wild ancestors at least as much as Heck cattle.
Achille Joseph Urbain was a French biologist born in Le Havre.
The banteng, also known as tembadau, is a species of wild bovine found in Southeast Asia.
The Cardamom Mountains, or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the southwest part of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range is within Cambodia.
A bovid hybrid is the hybrid offspring of members of two different species of the bovid family. There are 143 extant species of bovid, and the widespread domestication of several species has led to an interest in hybridisation for the purpose of encouraging traits useful to humans, and to preserve declining populations. Bovid hybrids may occur naturally through undirected interbreeding, traditional pastoral practices, or may be the result of modern interventions, sometimes bringing together species from different parts of the world.
The wildlife of Cambodia is very diverse with at least 162 mammal species, 600 bird species, 176 reptile species, 900 freshwater fish species, 670 invertebrate species, and more than 3000 plant species. A single protected area, Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, is known to support more than 950 total species, including 75 species that are listed as globally threatened on the IUCN Red List. An unknown amount of species remains to be described by science, especially the insect group of butterflies and moths, collectively known as lepidopterans.
A frozen zoo is a storage facility in which genetic materials taken from animals are stored at very low temperatures (−196 °C) in tanks of liquid nitrogen. Material preserved in this way can be stored indefinitely and used for artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, and cloning. There are a few frozen zoos across the world that implement this technology for conservation efforts. Several different species have been introduced to this technology, including the Pyrenean ibex, Black-footed ferret, and potentially the white rhinoceros.
The wild water buffalo, also called Asian buffalo, Asiatic buffalo and wild buffalo, is a large bovine native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List since 1986, as the remaining population totals less than 4,000. A population decline of at least 50% over the last three generations is projected to continue. The global population has been estimated at 3,400 individuals, of which 95% live in India, mostly in Assam. The wild water buffalo is the most likely ancestor of the domestic water buffalo.
The tribe Bovini or wild cattle are medium to massive bovines that are native to Eurasia, North America, and Africa. These include the enigmatic, antelope-like saola, the African and Asiatic buffalos, and a clade that consists of bison and the wild cattle of the genus Bos. Not only are they the largest members of the subfamily Bovinae, they are the largest species of their family Bovidae. The largest species is the gaur, weighing up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb).
The Central Indochina dry forests are a large tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in Southeast Asia.
The wild yak is a large, wild bovine native to the Himalayas. It is the ancestor of the domestic yak.
Bovina is a subtribe of the Bovini tribe that generally includes the two living genera, Bison and Bos. However, this dichotomy has been challenged recently by molecular work that suggests that Bison should be regarded as a subgenus of Bos. Wild bovinans can be found naturally in North America and Eurasia.
kouprey/bos-sauveli Kouprey media from ARKive