Oxen 'may be kouprey'
Wild oxen resembling the kouprey, a wild species believed to be the most endangered large mammal in the world, have been spotted deep in the jungle near to where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet, the head of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Variety Conservation Department said.
Damrong Phidetch said he recently received a report that park rangers in Phu Jong Na Yoi National Park in Ubon Ratchathani saw three wild cattle that looked like gaur but with longer, more beautiful and fearsome horns. Experts believed the three oxen to be kouprey (Bos sauveli), Damrong said. If the animals were proven to be kouprey, said Damrong, it would be very good news for wildlife experts. It has been more than six decades since the last sighting. Their natural habitat restricted to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, kouprey have always been targeted by hunters due to their strong, beautiful horns. However, decades of fighting during the Indochina War are believed to be the major reason for its entry into the list of endangered species. Many Thais know the animal only by seeing its horns, which were collected by Boonsong Lekakul, known as Thailand's father of conservation. Before becoming a conservationist, Boonsong was a renowned hunter who was able to track down kouprey. The last time anyone saw one of the animals alive was in 1940, when a kouprey displayed in the Vicennes Zoo in Paris died from starvation. Theerapat Prayurasiddhi, a biologist who completed his PhD in banteng conservation biology, said it was possible the three oxen were kouprey. (Banteng is another species of wild cattle.) "Wild cattle specialists believe kouprey still inhabit the area, particularly in the jungles of Cambodia, but no one has been able to survey the area because of land-mines," said Theerapat, who is also a member of the Wild Cattle Specialists Group, which comprises biologists from various countries who are interested in wild cattle. Kouprey, banteng and gaur are in the same family of wild cattle. Theerapat said males of the three species could be distinguished by their horns, but it was difficult to distinguish the females from each other. However, Surapol Duangkhae, secretary-general of the Wildlife Fund Thailand - which uses a picture of the kouprey as its logo - said it was very unlikely that the oxen seen by the park rangers were kouprey. He called on the Wildlife Department to conduct an investigation. Panya Bunyaadulyakij, head of Phu Jong Na Yoi National Park, said he had asked all of his park rangers to carry cameras with them when they go out on patrol, in case they sight the animal. Janjira Pongrai The Nation
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