GAUR
Gaur ( Bos frontalis) are the world's largest wild cattle or wild bovines. Ranging from Nepal and India through Southeast Asia, they are impressive-looking creatures with huge a muscled body and a relatively small head and have been described as looking like a "water buffalo on steroids.” They are related to the now-extinct wild ancestors of cows and cattle. Gayals are domestic versions of gaurs.
Gaur are large bovines. They inhabit forested hills, rain forests and grassy clearings and have been found at elevations up to 1800 meters (5905 feet). Classified as herbivores, they are both browsers and grazers, prefering green grass, but otherwise will consume coarse, dry grasses, forbs, and leaves. Their average lifespan in captivity is 26.2 years.
Gaur have been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. In 2016, the global population was estimated to be a maximum of 21,000 mature individuals, with the majority of them in India. The Hindi word “gaur means” 'fair-skinned, fair, white'. The Sanskrit word “gaura” means 'white, yellowish, reddish'. The Sanskrit word gaur-mriga means a kind of water buffalo. [Source: Wikipedia]
There are three recognized gaur subspecies: 1) The Indian gaur (B. g. gaurus), which is found in India, Nepal and Bhutan; 2) B. g. readei; described by Richard Lydekker in 1903, based on a specimen from Myanmar, and is thought to range from Upper Myanmar to Tanintharyi Region; 3) B. g. hubbacki; described by Lydekker in 1907, based on a specimen from Pahang in Peninsular Malaysia, which was thought to range from Peninsular Malaysia and northward through Tenasserim. This classification, based largely on differences in coloration and size, is no longer widely recognized. This means there are basically two types: those found in India and South Asia and those found in Southeast Asia.
See Separate Article: WILD CATTLE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA factsanddetails.com
Bovids (Antelopes, Cattle, Gazelles, Goats, Sheep)
Bovids (Bovidae) are the largest of 10 extant families within Artiodactyla, consisting of more than 140 extant and 300 extinct species. According to Animal Diversity Web: Designation of subfamilies within Bovidae has been controversial and many experts disagree about whether Bovidae is monophyletic (group of organisms that evolved from a single common ancestor) or not. [Source: Whitney Gomez; Tamatha A. Patterson; Jonathon Swinton; John Berini, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Wild bovids can be found throughout Africa, much of Europe, Asia, and North America and characteristically inhabit grasslands. Their dentition, unguligrade limb morphology, and gastrointestinal specialization likely evolved as a result of their grazing lifestyle. All bovids have four-chambered, ruminating stomachs and at least one pair of horns, which are generally present on both sexes.
While as many as 10 and as few as five subfamilies have been suggested, the intersection of molecular, morphological, and fossil evidence suggests eight distinct subfamilies: Aepycerotinae (impalas), Alcelaphinae (bonteboks, hartebeest, wildebeest, and relatives), Antilopinae (antelopes, dik-diks, gazelles, and relatives), Bovinae (bison, buffalos, cattle, and relatives), Caprinae (chamois, goats, serows, sheep, and relatives), Cephalophinae (duikers), Hippotraginae (addax, oryxes, roan antelopes, sable antelopes, and relatives), and Reduncinae (reedbucks, waterbucks, and relatives).
See Separate Article: BOVIDS: CHARACTERISTICS, BEHAVIOR, SUBFAMILIES factsanddetails.com
Gaur Characteristics
Gaur range in weight from 650 to 1,000 kilograms (1,432 to 2,203 pounds) and have a head and body length of 2.5 to 3.3 meters (8.2 to 10.8 feet). They stand 1.65 to 2.2 meters (5.4 to 7.2 feet) at the shoulder and have massive buffalo-like horns that range in length from 0.6 to 1.15 meters (two to 3.7 feet) across. The two horns start at the edge of the cranium and curve upwards to the right and left. Their tail length ranges from 0.7 to 1.05 meters (2.3 to 3.4 feet) in length. [Source: Barbara Lundrigan and Trevor Zachariah, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males weigh more than many compact cars. Females are 75 percent smaller and lighter than males. Ornamentation is different. Both males and females have horns but the males tend to be more impressive. Gaur males are usually black or dark brown. Females are rust colored.
Gaur have deep chests, thick muscles, a hump-like ridge on their back and legs that look too slim to support their large bodies. Their characteristic hump of raised muscle that rises over the shoulders is is the result of elongated spinal processes on the vertebrae.The hair of Gaur is dark reddish brown to blackish brown, with white stockings. The coat is short, coarse and fairly dense. The surface of their hair has a smooth, oily texture. Their legs are often white.
Gaur Behavior
Gaur are motile (move around as opposed to being stationary), social (associates with others of its species; forms social groups), and have dominance hierarchies (ranking systems or pecking orders among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates). Their daily routine begins with the herd exiting the forests into grassy areas to feed in the morning. The afternoon is spent resting and ruminating. More feeding is done in the evening, and at night the herd reenters the forest for resting and sleeping. Shyness, aversion to humans and disturbances in their habitat can cause gaur to become entirely nocturnal (active at night). [Source: Barbara Lundrigan and Trevor Zachariah, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Gaur spend their time in forests in small groups. Herds of Gaur typically contain eight to eleven individuals, but can reach 40 individuals. Home range size averages 78 square kilometers. Herds usually contain one adult bull and several cows and juveniles. Other bulls may form bachelor herds, or if advanced in age, become solitary. A hierarchy is established in all herds, with a dominant bull at the top and size determining the order thereafter. /=\
During the daytime, gaurs rest in shadowy places and seek food in early morning and at dusk. Gaur favor remote hill forests, tropical forests, bamboo thickets and woodland interspersed with clearings. They are shy and usually spend their day in the jungle, resting and chewing the cud, and only come out to graze at night, feeding on tender grasses, bamboo shoots and the young shoots of other plants They snort and toss their horns before they charge. Myna birds like to hang out on their backs.
Ritualized aggressive behavior by gaur is used by both sexes to maintain the dominance hierarchy. Aggressive behavior is characterized by broadside charges and movement of the head horizontally and vertically. The degree of vigor and height of the head express varying levels of aggression. Gaur become fierce only when they are injured or are cornered. They attack people only then. There have been reported cases of gaur attacking and killing human pursuers that get too close. Predators of Gaur include tigers and humans. Being the largest wild oxen in the world there are few animals that will challenge them in the forest.
Gaur sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell. They have sharp senses of hearing and smell and run away when they sense human beings are close. According to Animal Diversity Web: Vocalizations include an alarm call, which consists of a high-pitched snort and a growling "moo." Bulls have two additional calls. The first is the herd call, which halts the herd and brings it together. The second is a roaring that can last for hours during mating periods. Licking is also used in communication. Females lick their calves to form stronger relationships with them. Lower-ranking individuals lick higher-ranking individuals. Also, mating pairs lick each other during breeding. /=\
Gaur Mating, Reproduction and Offspring
Breeding for gaur can take place at any time throughout the year. Females have an interval of 12 to 15 months between births. The estrous cycle is three weeks long, and estrus lasts one to four days. On average males and females reach sexual or reproductive maturity at 590 days.
Older males are often solitary. In the mating season — often between November and April — they join the small herds and fight with younger males. When rutting males bellow out a distinctive call that can be heard a kilometers and a half away and attracts both females and males. After a gestation period of 270 to 280 days a female gives birth to a single young gaur (rarely twins). The calf is weaned at around nine months and reaches maturity the third year of its life.
Gaur are altricial. This means that young are born relatively underdeveloped and are unable to feed or care for themselves or move independently for a period of time after birth. Gestating females leave the herd during parturition. Young weigh an average of 23 kilograms when born. Calves are nursed for around 4.5 months to to nine months.
Gaurs, Humans and Conservation
Gaur are endangered animals. On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List they are listed as Vulnerable. On the US Federal List they are classified as Endangered. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix I No special status There an estimated 450 to 500 of them in Malaysia, Their number elsewhere are unknown. By one estimate there are 36,000 gaur left.
Although numbers is some places, especially in India, are healthy, overall the population of gaur is in decline due to hunting and habitat loss and disturbances. They are threatened by habitat loss and hunting. Hunters liked because they are big beefy creatures that provide lots of meat. Gaur are now being raised in captivity and helped programs aimed at making rain forests economically sustainable. Their skulls are collected to study their behavior.
This species is also very susceptible to domestic cattle diseases, such as hoof and mouth disease and rinderpest. Diseases are spread by domestic cattle that are driven into the habitat of Gaur to graze. Like the great herds of wildebeest and Cape buffalo in east Africa, gaurs are vulnerable to rinderpest, a viral disease transmitted by cattle that wander into their habitat. In 1975 a herd of gaur with 2,000 animals lost 300 members to the disease. With ditches and fence built to keep the cattle out of their reserves the number of gaur has rebounded.
Cloning Endangered Gaur
Swamp buffalo and river buffalo can breed successfully even though they have a number of different chromosomes. In contrast horses and donkeys produce sterile mules. In 2001, a gaur named Noah became the first endangered animal to be cloned. Born to a dairy cow, he lived only two days before dying of an infection. The team that performed the cloning, led by Dr. Robert Lanza of the Massachusetts biotechnology firm Advanced Cell Technology, was disappointed about the death but pleased the cloning came off and was optimistic about the potential of the technology to save endangered animals. There are plans to maybe use the same or similar technology on pandas. Noah was the product of the fusion of DNA from skin cells taken from a gaur that died in the early 1990s at the San Diego Zoo with the eggs (oocytes) from dairy cows killed in a an abattoir. The nucleus was taken out of the skin cell and placed in hollowed-out cow eggs using a special needle. A pulse of electricity caused the cow egg and gaur egg to fuse. Out of 692 fused cells 81 grew and divided into 100-cell "cell balls" and these were shipped to Iowa and implanted in surrogate cows. Forty-four cell balls were implanted into 32 surrogate cows. Only Noah survived.
Domesticated mammals that have been cloned include: 1) sheep (Dolly in 1997) ; 2) bull (1999, leading to a debate about the safety of milk and meat from cloned animals) ; 3) pigs (2000, opening the way for cloning animals to produce organs); 4) goat (2000, the first one died of abnormal lung development); 5) cat (2002, quickly followed by the formation of a company to make clones of cherished pets); 6) mule (2003, the first hybrid clone, mules are offspring of a horse and a donkey); 7) dog (2005, achieved with an Afghan by South Korean researchers) ; 8) water buffalo (achieved in China in 2005); 9) horse (2005, achieved with a surrogate mother that was also a genetic donor).
Wild mammals that have been cloned include: 1) mice (50 clones created from a single mouse in 1998); 2) gaur (2001, the first clone of an endangered species) ; 3) mouflon (2001, the first clone of an endangered species to survive infancy); 4) rabbit (2002); 5) rat (2003, difficult to achieve as it eggs begin dividing almost instantaneously) ; 6) African wildcat (2004, with a domesticated cat serving as a surrogate mother); 7) ferret (2006); 8) wolf (2007, achieved with two gray wolves by South Korean researchers).
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.
Last updated January 2025