Report on the Banteng
By Amelie Davis
Daddy was in the forest today looking for snares. He saw three banteng bulls (Bos burmanicus). Two of them ran into the forest, the third bull stayed but as they went towards it, it then trotted away.
A banteng is a type of wild cow. They are like domestic cows except they are wild. A banteng can weigh 400 to 900 kilograms. The banteng legs always have white socks which reach the knee. They also have a white rear end.
In the world, they estimate that the number of banteng is 5,000 to 8,000. In Cambodia from 1960 to 1990 the population reduced by 90 percent. The banteng has been classified as endangered since 1996 on the IUCN Redlist. In 2011, World Wildlife Fund said that there were 2,700 to 5,000 banteng estimated in Cambodia.
The baneng are suffering from loss of habitat that land concessions have been taken for rubber plantations, and other agriculture. Banteng are also suffering from hunting in their dryland forest home.
We hope that people will stop hunting banteng inside this new community forest and it will hopefully be protected from agricultural land concessions which are destroying the banteng’s habitat.
Posted in Wildlife