A wild gaur that has bred at least 20 offspring with domestic cows has been found dead on a farm near the Phuoc Binh National Park in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan.
“There’s no sign of poaching. Maybe the gaur (Bos gaurus) died due to lack of food, long dry season and old age,” Nguyen Cong Van, the park director, said.
Local farmers found the dead animal, weighing around a ton, on a farm March 7 and reported to park authorities.
The authorities later said that the gaur was the male that had been found grazing and mating with domestic cows for the past six years, producing more than 20 calves.
Van said the animal’s carcass would be preserved for research and display at the local museum.
Crossbreeds between wild gaur and domestic cows. Photo: Thien Nhan.
“It was likely an ousted dominant male or one that got lost in the residential area where it lived with domestic cows.”
The presence of the gaur is considered extremely unusualsince scientists in Nam Cat Tien and other national parks in the region are yet to get a single image of the species despite years of setting camera traps in the forests.
Authorities in Ninh Thuan and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong have begun a project to research the crossbreeds and have bought 10 of them from locals to breed on a farm near the Phuoc Binh National Park.