Kouprey are likely to be extinct. Recent survey efforts have been unsuccessful finding live kouprey, although some horns have been found in markets. High levels of hunting in the last 30 years resulted in at least an 80% decline in population numbers. If any kouprey remain, there are most likely to be less than 50 mature individuals. Given these very small numbers and no abatement to intense hunting and poaching pressure, kouprey are in dire danger or imminent extinction. The IUCN redlist considers then Critically Endangered, possibly extinct. With the fall of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, markets for bushmeat and trophies surged, resulting in intense pressure on all large mammals in the region. If any individuals remain, they are likely to be in small portions of eastern Cambodia, where there are some protected areas. There are no individuals in captivity.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix i
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered
The only known predator of the kouprey is humans. Kouprey have adapted a nocturnal behavior to avoid human predation.
Known Predators:
An adult kouprey ranges in shoulder height from 170 to 190 cm. The head and body length measurements range from 210 to 223 cm. The tail reaches a length of 100 cm and the average adult weighs between 680 and 910Kg. Bulls have a dewlap (skin fold that hangs from the neck) which distinguishes this species from other wild cattle, and horns that split and fray at the tips at around three years of age. The horns of males can reach up to 80 cm in length. Female kouprey also have horns, about half the length of male's horns, but theirs spiral upwards. Both males and females have notched nostrils. Kouprey young are reddish in color, but become more gray by five to six months of age. The young have lighter colored legs. Adult males are dark brown or black.
Range mass: 681 to 910 kg.
Range length: 223 to 210 cm.
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger; sexes shaped differently; ornamentation
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Kouprey have a lifespan of about 20 years. Lifespan is limited by hunting, inbreeding, and disease.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 20 years.
Kouprey are found in open forest and savannas, often near thick monsoon forests. This kind of habitat is created by natural forest disturbance and slash-and-burn agriculture.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
Kouprey, Bos sauveli, once ranged from Kampuchea to the Dongrak Mountains of eastern Thailand, southern Laos, and western Vietnam. They are currently considered likely to be extinct, with the only possible individuals surviving in small portions of eastern Cambodia, where there are some poorly protected regions.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
Kouprey graze on grasses, including bamboo (Arundinella species), ploong (Arundinella setosa) and koom (Chloris species). They frequent salt licks and water holes.
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )
Kouprey provide food for humans who share their range. They share ranges with banteng (Bos javanicus) and water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), there may be some competition for food between these species.
Kouprey have been used as food, although they are protected by CITES Appendix I. Kouprey are also thought to be very genetically diverse and immune to certain pests that plague domestic cattle in this region. Cross-breeding between kouprey and domestic cattle could potentially reduce disease. Kouprey horn and gall bladder is considered useful in traditional medicine, but there are no documented benefits of kouprey parts for humans.
Positive Impacts: food ; body parts are source of valuable material; source of medicine or drug ; research and education
There are no known adverse affects of kouprey on humans.
There is little known regarding kouprey communication. However, as mammals, they are likely to use some visual signals and body postures in communication. Scent is likely to play some role, especially in identifying mates and offspring. Bovids typically vocalize to one another. Tactile communication is probably important in competition and between a mother and her offspring.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
There is fossil evidence that kouprey once resided in central China. In 1964, Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia declared the kouprey to be the national animal. It is interesting to note the struggle that has been going on to obtain information on this elusive animal. Many search parties have been formed only to come back empty handed, and with rarely even a photograph. The fear that kouprey may have gone extinct is diminished by the finding of horns in markets, the occasional discovery of sign by researchers, and the sightings by locals. There has been only one captive animal (caught by mistake), the original specimen of Bos sauveli. This animal unfortunately died during World War I of starvation.
There is little information available on mating systems in kouprey. Their sexual dimorphism suggests some level of polygyny. In other bovids, males often compete for females and successful males are polygynous. It is likely that this species is similar.
Kouprey mate in the spring and calve in the winter (typically December or January). Female kouprey have marked low fertility. The mother leaves the herd to give birth, and returns about a month after giving birth to a single young. The gestation period is 8 to 9 months.
Breeding interval: These animals are thought to breed annually.
Breeding season: Mating occurs in the spring.
Range number of offspring: 1 (low) .
Average number of offspring: 1.
Range gestation period: 8 to 9 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average number of offspring: 1.
There is little data on the parental care habits of kouprey. As in other mammals, the female provides the bulk of parental care, producing milk for the young, grooming it, and protecting it from danger. Male parental care has not been noted.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female)
The kouprey, kouproh, forest bull or grey ox is a wild, forest-dwelling ox, which may exist in protected areas in eastern and northern Cambodia (Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary, Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri Protection Forest and/or Siema Biodiversity Conservation Area) (17). It ha also lived in southern Laos, western Vietnam and southeast and eastern Thailand (16). Fossil evidence indicates that it was once present in central China (12). It lives in low, partially forested hills and prefers open deciduous dipterocarp forests, especially those areas with extensive grasslands, often near thick monsoon forests (17,18). It seems to use patches of mixed deciduous and semi-evergreen forest. Most of its range lies in a highly seasonal area receiving less than 2,000 mm of precipitation per annum. The presence of pools and mineral licks is important in areas of high rainfall (16). Some suitable kouprey has been created by natural forest disturbance and slash-and-burn agriculture. The kouprey measures 2.1-2.3 m along the head and body plus a 1 m tail. It stands 1.7-1.9 m high at the shoulder and weighs 680-910 kg [5] with unverified reports up to 1,700 kg from Vietnam are considered dubious, since they far exceed other recorded weights for the species. The kouprey has a tall, narrow body, long legs, notched nostrils, humped back and a long tail with a bushy tip. Adult males are dark brown to black, but females are more grey in colour and young are reddish with lighter coloured legs, becoming greyish-brown by 5-6 months. The lower legs are white or greyish. Males have a dewlap, a skin fold hanging from the neck (12). Their long, far-reaching horns arch forward and upward; they can reach up to 80 cm and begin to split and fray at the tips at about 3 years old (14). The horns of the female are lyre-shaped with antelope-like upward spirals and reach 40 cm.
The kouprey is diurnal, eating in the open at night and under the forest cover by day. It is said to have become nocturnal to avoid contact with humans. It is active and digs into the ground. Males butt tree stumps, causing fraying of their horns. The kouprey lives in herds of up to 20, primarily of females and calves and usually led by a single female. h banteng. Mature males form bachelor herds, but join the herds of cows and calves in the dry season. Many herds break up and rejoin as they travel [12] and may live with herds of banteng or wild buffalo [13]. Kouprey probably to use some visual signals and body postures in communication. Scent is likely to play some role, especially in identifying mates and offspring. Bovids typically vocalize to one another. Tactile communication is probably important in competition and between a mother and her young. The kouprey usually travels up to 15 km in a night to graze on grasses, visit saltlicks and drink from waterholes. The kouprey feeds mainly on grasses, including bamboo, ploong, and koom; it also eats leaves, roots, tubers, sedges, and some browse. It spends a lot of time around salt licks and water holes. The only known predator of the kouprey is humans; kouprey have become nocturnal to avoid human predation.
Kouprey mate in the spring; their sexual dimorphism suggests some level of polygyny. Males may compete for females and successful males are polygynous. Females show low fertility and produce one calf in winter (typically December or January) after a gestation of 8-9 months. Females leave the herd to give birth, protecting the new-born calf amongst dense vegetation until it is about a month old when they return to the herd (12). The female provides the bulk of parental care, producing milk for the young, grooming it, and protecting it from danger. Male parental care has not been noted. Kouprey have a lifespan of about 20 years. Lifespan is limited by hunting, inbreeding, and disease.
The kouprey is believed to be a close relative to the aurochs and gaur. Some scientists compared mitochondrial sequences and suggedted the kouprey might be a hybrid between a zebu and a banteng [9], but later rescinded their conclusion [10] when a fossilized skull was found dating from the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. More recent genetic analysis has supported this position [11].
There are fewer than 250 mature kouprey left in the world, perhaps below 50 with some speculation that they are extinct. The population is estimated to have fallen over 80% in the last 30 years. When the Khmer Rouge fell in Cambodia, markets for bushmeat and trophies surged, resulting in intense pressure on large mammals.The low numbers are attributed to uncontrolled hunting by locals and soldiers for meat, horns, gall bladders and skulls for use in traditional Chinese medicine (6,16), along with diseases introduced from cattle and other livestock and loss of habitat due to agriculture and logging activity. Kouprey may compete with banteng and water buffalo for food. Prince Sihanouk designated the kouprey as the national animal of Cambodia in the 1960s, partly due to its mystique (5). No kouprey have been sighted since 1988 [6], but tracks have been seen some horns have been found in markets (6,14). The 2008 IUCN report lists the kouprey as critically endangered (possibly extinct) [7,16]. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES (19), on Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) (20) and is legally protected in all range states. If the species is still extant it is most likely to be in eastern Cambodia in one of four protected areas There are no kouprey in captivity. There are suggestions that domesticated kouprey may survive in Cambodia (2), but this seems very unlikely, although domestic oxen in Cambodia may carry kouprey genes (2). Kouprey are thought to be very genetically diverse and immune to certain pests that plague domestic cattle in this region. Cross-breeding between kouprey and domestic cattle could potentially reduce disease. There is no captive population. The only individual in a western zoo was sent to the Vincennes Zoo, Paris in 1937; it was designated as the holotype by Urbain and died early in World War II [3,6,8]. The kouprey had been discovered in 1929, when an American man and his son shot and killed an unidentified ungulate to use as tiger bait. The bones were sent to the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, but were not examined until 1982 (4). Pfeffer took the only reasonable photograph of a wild kouprey (9,13,15). The only significant scientific observation of the kouprey was made in 1957 when zoologist Charles Wharton studied and filmed the animal in the wild (1). By 1970 it was thought to be extinct following continued hunting for meat, horns and skulls(6,16); land mines along the borders of Cambodia may be responsible for kouprey deaths and hinder conservation efforts (16).
The kouprey (Bos sauveli), also known as the forest ox, is a possibly extinct species of forest-dwelling wild bovine native to Southeast Asia. A young male was sent to the Paris Zoological Park in 1937 and was described by the French zoologist Achille Urbain who declared it the holotype. The kouprey has a tall, narrow body, long legs, a humped back and long horns.
The kouprey has not been sighted since 1969–1970. A camera trapping survey in the region of these sightings failed to document it in 2011. It has been listed as Critically Endangered, and possibly extinct, on the IUCN Red List since 1996.[2]
The kouprey is the national animal of Cambodia and is also the nickname of their football team.
The kouprey has a grey, dark brown or black fur, a tall, narrow body with long legs and a humped back. The horns of the female are lyre-shaped, with antelope-like upward spirals. The horns of the male are wide, and arch forwards and upward; they begin to fray at the tips at about three years of age. Both sexes have notched nostrils and long tails.
It is thought to be a close relative of the aurochs (Bos primigenius), gaur (B. gaurus), and banteng (B. javanicus). A very large ungulate, the kouprey can approach similar sizes to the wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee). These bovids measure 2.1 to 2.3 m (6.9 to 7.5 ft) along the head and body, not counting a 1 m (3.3 ft) tail, and stand 1.7–1.9 m (5.6–6.2 ft) high at the shoulder. Their weight is reportedly from 680 to 910 kg (1,500 to 2,010 lb).[5] Unverified reports of a body mass up to 1,700 kg (3,700 lb) from Vietnam are considered dubious, since they far exceed other recorded weights for the species.
Historical distribution of the kouprey included Cambodia, southern Laos, east Thailand and western Vietnam. It is thought to be extinct in all areas outside of Cambodia. If still extant, it likely survives in Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary, Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri Protected Forest, or Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary.[2] It inhabits low, partially forested hills, where it feeds mainly on grass. Its preferred habitat is open forest and savannas often near thick monsoon forests.
The kouprey is diurnal, eating in the open at night and under the forest cover during the day. It usually travels up to 15 km (9.3 mi) in a night.
It lives in herds of up to 20 usually led by a female. These herds generally consist of cows and calves, but have bulls during the dry season. Older males form bachelor herds. Many herds are known to break up and rejoin as they travel and have been found to be mixed in with herds of banteng or wild water buffalo.
The kouprey predominantly graze on grasses, as well as shoots of bamboo and koompassia species. It spends a lot of time around salt licks, mud pits, water holes. Mud baths help in repelling biting insects.
There are estimated to be fewer than 250 kouprey left in the world. There is some speculation on whether or not it is already extinct.[6][7]
These low numbers are attributed to uncontrolled hunting by locals and soldiers for meat, horns and skulls for use in traditional Chinese medicine, in conjunction with diseases introduced from cattle and loss of habitat due to agriculture and logging activity.
Kouprey are legally protected in all range states and may be present in some protected areas. Prince Sihanouk designated it as the national animal of Cambodia in the 1960s, partly due to its mystique. On the 15th and 16th of January 1988, the University of Hanoi hosted the International Workshop on the Kouprey: Conservation Programme. Headed and coordinated by the IUCN, in a collaboration with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, aimed to create a feasible and realistic action plan for immediate kouprey conservation. Other organizations in attendance and contributing 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.[8]
The 2008 IUCN Red List report lists the kouprey as critically endangered (possibly extinct).[2]
Large mammal surveys continue to take place in Cambodia, hoping to rediscover living kouprey. Other surveys have been taking place in the kouprey's historical range as recently as 2011. These surveys were done to determine the regions in their range with the highest probability of the kouprey's persistence. This is based on the habitat type and survey effort to date. During the last decade, several searches for the animal have proven fruitless.[9]
There is no captive population. The only individual in a western zoo was sent to the Paris Zoological Park in 1937; that was the individual designated as the holotype by Urbain.[10] It died early in World War II.[11]
Research published by Northwestern University in London's Journal of Zoology indicated a comparison of mitochondrial sequences showed the kouprey might be a hybrid between a zebu and a banteng.[12] However, the authors of this study rescinded their conclusion.[13] A later study in 2021 based on a whole nuclear genome found that the kouprey represented a distinct species, but formed a polytomy with the banteng and gaur due to incomplete lineage sorting, suggesting extensive hybridisation between their ancestors, resulting in the mitochondrial DNA of kouprey being nested within a group including a mixture of both banteng and gaur. The study also showed that zebu had introgressed ancestry from some Asian Bos, resulting in some of their mitochondrial lineages being nested within this group.[14]
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) {{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) The kouprey (Bos sauveli), also known as the forest ox, is a possibly extinct species of forest-dwelling wild bovine native to Southeast Asia. A young male was sent to the Paris Zoological Park in 1937 and was described by the French zoologist Achille Urbain who declared it the holotype. The kouprey has a tall, narrow body, long legs, a humped back and long horns.
The kouprey has not been sighted since 1969–1970. A camera trapping survey in the region of these sightings failed to document it in 2011. It has been listed as Critically Endangered, and possibly extinct, on the IUCN Red List since 1996.
The kouprey is the national animal of Cambodia and is also the nickname of their football team.
