| Wild
Cattle News
Table of contents
2009
2008
2007
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December 2, Rangers lament downfall of ox species |
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October 17, Endangered Wild Ox given lifeline |
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October 5, Cambodia's National animal is "real", study says |
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June 2, Montana, under pressure, to take Bison back to Yellowstone |
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April 30, Concern over death of Indian bison in Wayanad forests |
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April 23, 296 gaurs counted in Chitwan National Park, Nepal |
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April 12, New at Vandalur zoo: bouncing bison calf (Bos gaurus) |
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April 11, Tracks of Saola discovered in Quang Tri, Vietnam |
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March 15, Why the Buffalo roam |
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January 12, France : naissance exceptionnelle d'un buffle lilliputien dans un zoo |
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January 9, Strands of undesirable DNA roam with Buffalo |
2006
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Decembre 17, Discovered, wiped out and cloned: the bizarre life cycle of the saola |
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November 13, NASA data helps predict bison travels |
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October 30, Herds
of bison to return to US |
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October
22, Asia's kouprey may not be new species |
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October 17, Ancient miniature buffalo discovered |
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August 9,
China puts price on head of rare Wild Yak |
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July 6,
Anthrax kills bison in southern N.W.T., Canada |
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June 27,
Gaur killed by guards in Dakrong Nature Reserve, Vietnam |
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June 10,
Governor's bison ideas irk ranchers |
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June 9,
Banteng hunted in Ea So Nature Reserve, Vietnam |
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April 25,
Re-introduction of European bison in Central Russia |
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April 21
- May 4, Search for the kouprey: trail runs cold for
Cambodia’s national animal |
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April 12,
Consensus on cross-border measures and priorities for future of
Bialowieza Forest |
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February
15, Wild buffalo faces extinction |
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January
10, Sixty mithuns die of unknown disease |
2005
| 30th March 2009, Vietnamnet |
To the top |
| Herd of gaurs discovered in Quang Tri |
VietNamNet Bridge - A herd of about ten gaurs, a rare kind of wild cattle typical of South Asia and Southeast Asia, have been discovered living on Mount Voi Mep at a height of 1,700m in Huong Hoa district in the central province of Quang Tri.
Cameras used in a biodiversity conservation corridors initiative (BCI) recorded the images of the herd in the North Huong Hoa nature reserve on March 7-8, reported the provincial forest management agency.
The agency says that it has also come across the animals' tracks and droppings. A German research centre that is assisting the agency confirmed that the herd includes two large males, at an estimated weight of one tonne each, and at least two grown females.
This is the first time such a large herd of gaurs has been found in the North Huong Hoa nature reserve and also the third locality to date that has been identified as being home to gaurs.
The Quang Tri Forest Management Agency is teaming up with the local authorities to conduct field surveys and work out a plan to protect the gaurs, which are listed as endangered in the Red Book.
| 3rd March 2009, The Phnom Penh Post |
To the top |
| R'kiri game hunting park approved |
By
Michael hayes and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
Banteng, or wild cows, in Ratanakkiri province last month. These animals may soon be the target of big game hunters when a planned game park gets off the ground. Photo by: Michael Hayes |
Following internal debate within various government departments that has been ongoing for the last four years, the Council of Ministers approved Friday the establishment of a new protected area in Rattanakiri Province.
Comprising around 100,000 hectares, the O'Yadav Protected Forest (OPF) is slated to become the Kingdom's first hunting reserve, where big-game trophy hunters will be allowed to pay thousands of dollars to shoot wild animals including gaur, banteng, wild boar and deer.
According to the government, revenues would be used to protect the area, manage sustainable wildlife levels, provide funds for social development and generate income for the national budget.
"If we calculate several gaur and banteng [per year] in the next five years - gaur, a maximum of 20, and banteng about 40 - with that and other small pigs and deer, we can generate about US$4 million," said Chheang Dany, deputy director of the Wildlife Protection Office (WPO) at the Forestry Administration.
"And from royalties and licences [we could earn] about another $600,000."
Based on recent field surveys conducted in the OPF, the wildlife office estimates that there are between 50 and 80 gaur and between 250 and 350 banteng currently in the area.
A Spanish company, NSOK Safaris, has been working with the government on the reserve. Chheang Dany says several of their executives visited the area in 2006 and that an investment proposal had been submitted to the Council of Ministers.
He did say, however, that NSOK's proposal included plans to build a hunting lodge, a small airport so hunters could fly directly from Phnom Penh to the protected forest, and that they were committed to build a school and a health clinic - probably in a local village.
In theory, the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) would have to approve any final investment proposal.
A controversial strategy Trophy-hunting as a method of managing and preserving wildlife is a controversial issue that has seen hunting organisations and conservation NGOs go head-to-head for decades.
"I support the concept with the caveat that it has to be done right," said Hunter Weiler, a technical adviser to the WPO.
Seng Teak, Cambodia country director for the global conservation group WWF, said that the decision to designate the area as a protected forest was "good news" but that any hunting had to be based on "scientific information and sound management".
"This can help produce results for managing the site and help improve the livelihoods of the people," Seng Teak said.
"Otherwise, it could ruin the [animal] population. We need to ensure the population of species needed to take off is available there. It must be studied very thoroughly."
The local provincial government seems optimistic that the project will benefit Ratanakkiri.
"I strongly believe that the project will reduce forest clearing and illegal hunting," Deputy Governor Bou Lam told the Post Sunday.
Pen Bonnar, Adhoc's provincial coordinator in Ratanakkiri , said the project was better than economic land concessions that he has seen destroy forests without much benefit or compensation to local villagers.
The majority of the OPF is presently covered with deciduous forest, meaning forest cover is sparse and water is very scarce during much of the year. The area east of the O'Tang River, which flows from the Vietnamese border southwest into the Srepok River, and north of the O'Leo River - an area of about 80,000 hectares - is too dry to sustain agricultural settlements.
"This is the best [area] of unprotected dry forest in the lower Mekong," said Weiler.
There are a few remote police posts along the border, but the area is generally open for poachers and illegal loggers.
Chheang Dany says that he has heard rumours that poachers are coming across the border and taking out wildlife trophies secretly. He also says that off-duty soldiers and hunters from the Cambodian side are taking out one banteng a week just so they can eat some meat and sell the rest to buy a few drinks to help wash it down.
But don't expect to see rifle-toting big-game hunters kitted out in safari suits passing through Phnom Penh any time soon, as a raft of regulations still remain to be passed.
The Ministry of Interior will have to decide regulations for importing and carrying weapons; the Ministry of Finance needs to determine the exact trophy and licensing fees; and the Forestry Administration will have to determine annual quotas for each species.
Moreover, the global economic downturn may for the time being take the wind out of the sails of any guy who needs to come up with the $50,000 required to walk around the jungle looking for a wild cow to shoot.
| 9th January 2009, Merinews |
To the top |
| MNP's wild water buffalo census report released |
By Subhamoy Bhattacharjee
Assam's wild water buffalo census report was released on Thursday (Jan 8). The report was prepared by the Rhino Foundation for Nature in collaboration with environment and forest department of Assam.
ASSAM FOREST minister Rockybul Hussain released the first ever complete wild water buffalo census report of Manas National Park (MNP) along with Laokhowa and Burhachapori wildlife sanctuaries, during a function on the bank of Brahmaputra, at Sadilapur, in Guwahati on Thursday (Jan 8). The wild water buffalo census report was prepared by the Rhino Foundation for Nature in collaboration with environment and forest department of Assam. The census done within two days on April 16 and 17, 2008, at MNP, ascertained a total of 215 water buffalos, covering the three ranges of the park.
On the other hand, the day long census initiative on April 22, 2008, at Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries result a total of 75 wild water buffalos including the ‘Tapus' in the Brahmaputra River, according the official census report.
So, the total population of wild water buffalo of MNPark and Laokhowa and Burhachapori, the other two wild life sanctuaries remain as 290, in numbers.
MNP has 109 female, 70 are male and 24 calves. The census report also informs that the sex of 12 animals could not be ascertained during the census at the national park.
The wild water buffalo's world population is also very low and is unlikely to be more than 3000. With the bulk of its population in Assam, knowledge on its number is very important, states the Rhino Foundation for Nature.
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