Content
The Gaur bull is a beautiful, strong animal. Representative of the genus True Bulls (Bos). The species belongs to the family Bovidae (bovids). It unites artiodactyls, ruminants, and includes about 140 species. The largest representatives of this family are considered to be gaurs. The distribution area of the rare animal is the wild nature of South and Southeast Asia.
Description of the Gaurs
Wild bulls have impressive dimensions. The height of the withers of an adult gaur (male) is 2.2 m, which is very impressive. The length of the body reaches 3.3 m in the largest individuals. The horns are huge, their length is 0.9 m, the distance between their ends is 1.2 m. The weight of a male gaur is more than 1 t (0.9-1.5 t) . The length of the skull of an adult is 68-70 cm. Females are smaller than males.
The bull has a powerful physique. Despite their heavy weight, gaurs do not look like clumsy animals. They are more like athletes. They have slender, strong legs, a powerful neck, and high withers. The head is massive, broad-browed, but it is compensated by a muscular body.
The horns are crescent shaped. They are round in cross section and have no thickenings on the sides. Their ends are black, but most of them are light. The fur of wild bulls is of uneven color. The main color is brown, light brown. The upper legs, neck, and muzzle and head are darker. Females differ from males in the size and thickness of their horns; they are thinner.
Spreading
Wild Asian bulls can be found in the mountainous part of the Malacca and Indochina peninsulas. They live in the forests. More recently, this was impossible; in these regions, gaurs were on the verge of extinction. It was possible to see a beautiful bull only in nature reserves and national parks.
Many Asian bulls live in India, where the number of livestock is in the thousands. There are small quantities in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Nepal. You can find them in the forests of Cambodia. Bulls can graze in the mountains at an altitude of 2 thousand meters above sea level. They prefer to live in hilly forest areas with sparse trees, do not like impenetrable thickets, and prefer sparse copses.
Lifestyle and behavior
In nature, gaurs form family groups. The herd size is small, it is 10-12 individuals, in rare cases – 30 bulls. Most often there is one male, sometimes two, all other family members are females and young calves. A male bull fights for the right to lead the herd and participates in fierce fights.
Old males live alone. Young gaur males that have not gained strength group together, creating small, isolated herds. Quite often the most experienced and mature female leads the herd.
The mating season begins in November. It ends at the end of April. During the active rut, fights between bulls for a female are rare. Challengers limit themselves to demonstrating their strength by adopting threatening poses. At the same time, they point one horn at the opponent.
Bulls express their readiness to mate with a loud roar.It is so loud that it can be heard more than 2 km away. Males roar at night or in the evening. During the rut, the roar of wild bulls is very similar to the sounds made by stag deer. During the mating season, single males join herds. At this time, fights occur between them.
The female carries the calf for 270-280 days. At this time she becomes aggressive. Twins are rarely born; usually one baby is born. During childbirth, the female gaur temporarily leaves the herd and returns with offspring.
Calving occurs in August-September. The female gaur feeds the calf with milk for 7-12 months. If the herd’s habitat has a good food supply, then the cows give birth annually. In nature, there are cases of gaur herds uniting with herds of other wild ungulates (sambars).
Male gaura become sexually mature at the age of 2-3 years, females at 2 years of age. The lifespan of a wild bull is 30 years. Calves have a high mortality rate. Almost 50% of gaurs do not live to see the age of one year. The calves become victims of the tiger, the main enemy of the gaurs. From 9-10 months they begin to feed on their own.
In a herd, calves stay together, and the “kindergarten” is guarded by females. Old males do not protect the herd. A shrill snort is considered a danger signal among the Gaurs. When the source of the threat is identified, the individual closest to it makes a special sound - a moo, reminiscent of a rumble. At the sound of it, the herd lines up in battle formation.
The Gaurs have a special attack style. They don't attack with their foreheads. They strike with one horn to the side. At this time, the animal squats slightly on its hind legs and lowers its head low.For this reason, one of the horns wears off more than the other.
Food supply of gaurs of plant origin:
- tree bark;
- green branches of a bush;
- bamboo shoots;
- grass;
- leaves of bushes and trees.
Gaurs are active during the day and sleep at night. Eat in the morning or late afternoon. They don't make big transitions. Bulls require a lot of water. At a watering hole, they not only quench thirst. Gaurs enjoy bathing. Water cools and temporarily relieves the attacks of midges.
According to the observations of zoologists, a herd living near a populated area changes its lifestyle. They are active at night. You won’t find a herd of Asian bulls in fields cultivated by humans. They graze in sparse copses near clearings, wander into bamboo thickets, and go out onto plains overgrown with bushes.
Meaning for humans
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has adopted two names denoting the wild and domesticated species of gaur:
- Bos gaurus – wild;
- Bos frontalis – domesticated.
In total, 5 wild species of bulls have been domesticated by humans, gaur is one of them. The domesticated gaur bull is called mitan or gayal. They are bred in the countries of Southeast Asia, Myanmar and the northeastern states of India - Manipur, Nagaland.
The dimensions and horns of gayals are smaller than those of their wild relatives, they are calmer than gaurs. The domesticated form is used as a monetary equivalent, often as draft labor or a source of meat. Cow's milk is rich in fats. In India, gayals are crossed with domestic cows, producing rich offspring.
Guyals are more phlegmatic than their wild relatives. They are kept differently from regular domestic cows. Guyals graze freely. They lure them with rock salt.
Vulnerability
Every year the number of wild bulls is decreasing.In India their numbers are relatively constant, but in areas of Southeast Asia they are on the verge of extinction. According to rough estimates, the total number of wild gaurs is 13-30 thousand heads. Most of the wild bulls live in different regions of India.
Reasons for population decline:
- hunting;
- reduction in food supply;
- deforestation, human development of land;
- epidemics caused by diseases of domestic cattle.
Local residents and foreigners are involved in poaching. Skins and horns cost a lot of money abroad. And local residents hunt bulls for meat. Among the predatory animals, the gaurs are attacked by leopards, crocodiles and tigers.
Only a tiger can kill a wild bull. They rarely attack adults. Their victims are calves under the age of 1 year. After the species was included in the Red Book, there was a change for the better. A strict ban on hunting and the introduction of quarantine supervision led to a slight increase in numbers.
Conclusion
The wild bull gaur may become extinct. The decline in the number of these beautiful animals is caused by a reduction in areas suitable for their habitat, hunting and epidemics. Nowadays the beautiful, powerful bull can be seen in reserves and national parks.
