The gaur bull is a beautiful, strong animal. Representative of the genus Real bulls (Bos). The species belongs to the family Bovidae (bovids). It unites artiodactyls, ruminants, it includes about 140 species. The largest representatives of this family are considered gaurs. The distribution area of a rare animal is the wild nature of South and Southeast Asia.
Description of gauras
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 the 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 large weight, gauras are not 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. In cross section they are rounded, there are no thickenings on the sides. Their ends are black, but most of them are light. Wool of wild bulls of non-uniform color. The main color is brown, light brown. The upper part of the legs, neck, as well as the muzzle and head are darker. Females differ from males in the size and thickness of the horns, they are thinner.
Distribution
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 not possible; in these regions, gaurs were on the verge of extinction. It was possible to see a beautiful bull only on the territory of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks.
Many Asian bulls live in India, where the number of livestock is in the thousands. There is a small amount in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal. You can meet 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 a hilly forest area with a sparse forest stand, they do not like impenetrable thickets, they prefer sparse copses.
Lifestyle and behavior
In nature, gauras form family groups. The number of the herd is small, it is 10-12 individuals, in rare cases – 30 bulls. The male is most often one, sometimes two, all other members of the family are females and young calves. The male bull fights for the right to lead the herd, participates in fierce fights.
Old males live alone. Young males, who have not gained strength in gaura, are grouped, creating small, isolated herds. Quite often, the most experienced and adult female leads the herd.
In November, the mating season begins. It ends at the end of April. During the active rut, fights between bulls for a female are rare. Applicants limit themselves to demonstrating their strength, taking menacing postures. At the same time, they direct one horn at the opponent.
Bulls express their readiness for mating with a loud roar. It is so loud that it can be heard at a distance of more than 2 km. Males roar at night or in the evening. During the rut, the roar of wild bulls is very similar to the sounds that stags make. During the mating season, single males join the herds. At this time, duels happen between them.
The female bears a calf for 270-280 days. At this time, she becomes aggressive. Twins are rarely born, usually one cub is born. At the time of childbirth, the female gaur temporarily leaves the herd, returns back already with offspring.
The hotel falls on August-September. The female gaur feeds the calf with milk for 7-12 months. If the habitat of the herd has a good food base, then the cows give birth annually. In nature, there are cases of combining herds of gaurs with herds of other wild ungulates (zambars).
Gaura males become sexually mature at the age of 2-3 years, females – at 2 years of age. The life expectancy of a wild bull is 30 years. Calves have a high mortality rate. Almost 50% of gaurs do not live up to a 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 the herd, the calves stay together, the “kindergarten” is guarded by the females. Old males do not protect the herd. A shrill snort is considered a signal of danger among gaurs. When the source of the threat is established, the individual closest to it makes a special sound – lowing, reminiscent of a roar. At his sounds, the herd lines up in battle order.
Gaurs have a special style of attack. They don’t attack with their foreheads. They strike with one horn sideways. The animal at this time slightly crouches on its hind legs, and lowers its head low. For this reason, one of the horns wears out more than the other.
Food base of gaurs of plant origin:
- tree bark;
- green branches of a bush;
- bamboo shoots;
- grass;
- leaves of shrubs and trees.
Gauras are active during the day, they sleep at night. Eat in the morning or late afternoon. Don’t make big transitions. Bulls need a lot of water. At the watering place, they not only quench their thirst. Gauras bathe with pleasure. Water cools and temporarily relieves attacks of midges.
According to the observations of zoologists, a herd living near a settlement changes its way of life. They are active at night. You will not meet a herd of Asian bulls in the fields cultivated by man. They graze in sparse copses near glades, wander into bamboo thickets, and go out onto plains overgrown with shrubs.
Value for man
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 were domesticated by man, gaur is one of them. The domesticated bull gaur is called mitan or gayal. They are bred in the countries of Southeast Asia, in Myanmar and the northeastern states of India – Manipur, Nagaland.
Gayals have smaller dimensions and horns than their wild relative, they are calmer than gaurs. The domesticated form is used as a cash equivalent, more often as draft labor or a source of meat. Cow’s milk is rich in fats. In India, gayals are crossed with domestic cows, get rich offspring.
Guyals are more phlegmatic than their wild relatives. Their content is different from ordinary domestic cows. Gayals graze on the loose. Lure them with rock salt.
Vulnerability
Every year the number of wild bulls is reduced. In India, their numbers are relatively constant, and 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 of forage base;
- deforestation, land development by man;
- epidemics caused by diseases of domestic cattle.
Poaching is done by locals and foreigners. Skins and horns cost big money abroad. And the locals hunt bulls for meat. Leopards, crocodiles and tigers attack gaurs from predatory animals.
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, the introduction of quarantine supervision led to a slight increase in numbers.
Conclusion
The wild bull gaur may disappear. The decline in the number of these beautiful animals is caused by the reduction of territories suitable for their habitat, hunting and epidemics. Now a beautiful powerful bull can be seen in reserves and national parks.