{"id":20099848,"date":"2022-09-28T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=99848"},"modified":"2022-10-13T10:35:04","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T05:05:04","slug":"the-kouprey-on-the-trail-of-cambodias-elusive-wild-cattle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/the-kouprey-on-the-trail-of-cambodias-elusive-wild-cattle\/","title":{"rendered":"The kouprey: On the trail of Cambodia\u2019s elusive wild cattle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two pairs of gangly white legs propping up a narrow, dark body with a humped back, drooping dewlap and curved horns are the tell-tale features of Cambodia\u2019s national mammal, the kouprey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once found in the grasslands and open forests of northern Cambodia and southernmost Laos, the near-mythical wild cattle species has not been definitively sighted for more than half a century. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) \u2013 the world\u2019s foremost authority on species\u2019 threatened status \u2013 says the kouprey is \u201cmost likely to be extinct\u201d in its assessment<\/a>. But a combination of local politics and data deficiencies have kept an official designation of extinction at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers at conservation organisation re:Wild and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research are now conducting the first kouprey-specific study in more than a decade. The research team is attempting to identify unsurveyed potential kouprey habitat in the hopes of contributing an \u201cevidence-based piece to the kouprey puzzle\u201d, says Andrew Tilker, the Asian species officer for re:Wild, who is spearheading the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUntil we have resolved whether or not the kouprey could still be out there with a certain level of confidence, that question mark will continue hanging over this species,\u201d says Tilker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world\u2019s most elusive wild cattle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The kouprey\u2019s image is not hard to find in Cambodia. The kouprey statues along the driveway of Cambodia\u2019s national zoo, and on roundabouts at Phnom Penh\u2019s historic Wat Phnom pagoda and in Senmonorom town are hard to miss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Metal<\/div>
A statue of a kouprey adorns the roundabout of Wat Phnom, a historic pagoda in Cambodia\u2019s capital city Phnom Penh (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"statue<\/div>
A trio of kouprey statues mark the entrance of Phnom Tamao Zoological Park and Wildlife Rescue Center, 40 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The kouprey was only scientifically described in 1937. What little is known of its biology comes mostly from expeditions in Cambodia undertaken in the 1950s and early 1960s. These found that the kouprey naturally existed at low densities<\/a>. Researchers attribute the decline of wild populations to high levels of hunting in the region. While kouprey sightings were claimed in the 1980s<\/a>, the last confirmed kouprey sighting was in 1969 in northern Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, the IUCN\u2019s Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group assessed approximately 90% of the region\u2019s camera trap photos, some taken in what was believed to be the kouprey\u2019s range, and found no images of the animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first phase of Tilker\u2019s kouprey study, which is already underway, consists of combing through data from historical expedition surveys to piece together a more accurate picture of where the kouprey once lived. The second part, which has mostly been completed, involves collecting camera trap records from across Indochina to analyse which landscapes have been searched and to what degree. The final phase will combine this information to see if there are any areas of plausible kouprey habitat that have not been extensively surveyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not knowing what is in a protected area leaves conservationists unable to design actions and interventions<\/blockquote>Pablo Sinovas, country director for Fauna & Flora International in Cambodia<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The team expect to complete the study in 2023. What happens after that will depend on the results, Tilker says. \u201cIf there are areas that merit further [field] searches, I am sure we could move ahead because there is enough interest in the global conservation community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the kouprey was historically been recorded in open forests and grasslands, Tilker argues that with so little known of its biology, other habitat types could conceivably support the species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVery remote, densely forested areas are the last stronghold for many large mammal species that are subject to heavy levels of exploitation,\u201d Tilker says. Asked where kouprey could most credibly be clinging on in Indochina, Tilker points to the Cambodia\u2013Laos border, where he says large areas of forest have never been surveyed because of their remoteness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best example, he says, is Virachey National Park, which stretches across more than 332,000 hectares along Cambodia\u2019s border with Laos and Vietnam. Scientific knowledge on what lives in the park is limited. The area\u2019s first comprehensive biodiversity<\/a> survey is in the process of being conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2021, camera traps set in the first stages of the biodiversity survey, led by the NGO Fauna & Flora International, captured the first ever images<\/a> of a large-antlered muntjac fawn in Cambodia. The species was only scientifically described in 1994 and it is listed as \u201ccritically endangered<\/a>\u201d by the IUCN. The photos demonstrated the presence of a breeding population in Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Pablo Sinovas, country director for Fauna & Flora in Cambodia, \u201cThe very significant find means there is probably a lot more to be found in the area.\u201d Not knowing what is in a protected area like Virachey leaves conservationists unable to design conservation actions and interventions for the rare and endangered species that do live there, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"man<\/div>
Churt Thom, a forest ranger working for the Ministry of Environment, adjusts the angle of a camera trap in Virachey National Park as part of a biodiversity study conducted by Fauna & Flora International (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As Fauna & Flora\u2019s flagship species officer in Cambodia, Chantha Nasak has spent weeks in Virachey setting camera traps for the biodiversity study. He hopes the results will emphasise the need to protect large mammal habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWildlife is a very special part of Virachey and the kouprey is a very special part of Cambodian culture. Unfortunately, now the population of kouprey in Cambodia is unknown,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we should focus on protecting places, like Virachey, so maybe kouprey but definitely other special animals can survive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southeast Asia\u2019s snaring crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the kouprey, several other members of the cattle family are native to Indochina, including the banteng, gaur and wild water buffalo. All are now facing serious declines, driven largely by indiscriminate snaring, leading conservationists to fear they will go the way of the kouprey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"man<\/div>
\u201cAll the big mammals have moved away because of over-hunting,\u201d says Kam Phon, chief of the Voen Sai Ranger Station in Virachey National Park. \u201cThe kouprey is no more, it is gone. Too many people hunted it.\u201d (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"patches<\/div>
In nearly 25 years of being a forest ranger in Virachey, the only kouprey Kam Phon has come across are the ones on the patch of his Ministry of Environment ranger uniform (Image: Anton L Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Snares are simple traps with a noose designed to snag the neck, torso or leg of any animal that walks through it. Often made with household items, like wire cables, nylon or rope, snares are cheap, easy to produce and simple to set in large quantities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"man<\/div>
Sok Lolo, a community ranger in Cambodia\u2019s Phnom Thnout Wildlife Sanctuary, wades through long grass in the protected area, which is still home to a herd of banteng, an endangered wild cattle species (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"man<\/div>
Sok Lolo removes a snare discovered during a patrol in Phnom Thnout Wildlife Sanctuary. Within the first two hours of this Saturday morning patrol in July 2022, rangers discovered and removed seven snares. (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"banteng<\/div>
The skulls of two banteng that died after being entangled by snares are kept in the shed of a community ranger base in Cambodia\u2019s Phnom Thnout Wildlife Sanctuary (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"bundles<\/div>
Two weeks\u2019 worth of snares collected by community rangers in Phnom Thnout Wildlife Sanctuary which is home to a herd of banteng (Image: Anton L. Delgado)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In a 2020 report<\/a>, WWF estimated that 12.2 million snares were present in protected areas within Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, equivalent to more than 110 snares per square kilometre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The banteng<\/a>, a type of wild cattle found in scattered populations from Myanmar to Bali, is among the most at-risk species, according to Thomas Gray, who co-authored the WWF report and has studied banteng populations in Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phnom Tnout-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia\u2019s northern province of Preah Vihear \u2013 where many of the early 20th<\/sup> century kouprey expeditions took place \u2013 is home to a herd of a hundred or so banteng today. It is plagued by snaring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"man<\/div>
Lim Sap is a community ranger in Phnom Tnout-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary. \u201cIf we keep killing all of the wildlife, the next generation of Cambodians won\u2019t even have a clear picture of what our country\u2019s animals look like,\u201d says Sap.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Community rangers, like Sok Lolo and Lim Sap, spend several days a week patrolling the protected area, looking for snares. Within the first two hours of a morning patrol in mid-July, the duo removed seven snares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs banteng continue to decline because of snaring, the probability of any kouprey remaining drops to zero,\u201d says Gray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politics of extinction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The kouprey was declared a national heritage symbol in the 1960s by the king of Cambodia, making it the Kingdom\u2019s national animal<\/a>. In 2005, a royal decree narrowed the title to \u2018national mammal\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite an absence of confirmed sightings for more than half a century, the kouprey permeates Cambodian culture. The animal\u2019s likeness appears on official stamps and company logos. \u2018Kouprey\u2019 has been used as a name for military exercises and is even the nickname of the country\u2019s national football team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The animal\u2019s ubiquity as a Cambodian cultural symbol likely contributes to the government\u2019s reluctance to determine its potential extinction, according to Robert Timmins, lead author of the IUCN assessment<\/a> of the kouprey\u2019s status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExtinction has a stigma to it. From a political perspective, admitting an extinction has occurred, particularly of a symbolic species, has political ramifications,\u201d Timmins says. \u201cNobody likes to admit failure and it\u2019s hard to see extinction as anything other than a failure in management and governance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tale of the kouprey is a warning sign for biodiversity<\/blockquote>Andrew Tilker, Asian species officer at re:Wild<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A declaration of extinction also takes time to coalesce. The IUCN declares a species extinct<\/a> \u201cwhen there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died\u201d and \u201cexhaustive surveys\u201d have failed to record one. In the case of the kouprey, despite concluding that \u201cits extinction, if not yet upon us, is almost certainly sealed\u201d, the IUCN has not yet categorised the species as extinct on the basis that potential habitat was not \u201csufficiently surveyed to rule out the presence of kouprey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would declaring the kouprey extinct have a meaningful impact on wildlife conservation in Cambodia? Gray, who is also the Red List assessment coordinator for IUCN\u2019s Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, is doubtful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no urgency in declaring it extinct,\u201d he says. \u201cIf kouprey, Cambodia\u2019s national animal, was declared extinct would that change the behaviour of the government or people in any way? I don\u2019t know. Might it concentrate the government? I think that is probably naive and too hopeful to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray predicts that the next IUCN assessment for the kouprey \u2013 expected in the next one to two years \u2013 will continue to list the species as \u201ccritically endangered\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tilker argues that the official extinction of a national animal could galvanise the government and conservationists to safeguard the region\u2019s other dwindling wild cattle populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe kouprey, whether there are no kouprey or five kouprey left, is a warning sign that all ground-dwelling endemic species in the region may be heading towards extinction,\u201d Tilker says. \u201cThe tale of the kouprey is a warning sign for biodiversity, especially among wild cattle in Indochina. If the species were to be declared extinct, this could be a major wake-up call for banteng and other large mammals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was produced in collaboration with the <\/em>Southeast Asia Globe<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was first published by China Dialogue<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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