Indian Gaur ( Indian Bison )

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Relevance: Indian Gaur found dead in Nilgiris - The Hindu


Indian Gaur ( Indian Bison ) ( Bull & Cow and Calf )

Taxonomy:
Phylum: Chordata 
Class: Mammalia 
Order: Cetartiodactyla 
Family: Bovidae 
Sub-family: Bovinae 
Genus: Bos 
Species: Bos gaurus (H. Smith 1824) 
Common name: Gaur 

The Indian bison is a large sized animal belonging to a phylogenitically young group of mammals, the Bovinae. There has been an inconsistency in the nomenclatural treatment of the wild and domestic Gaur with several nomenclatural systems being proposed by different authors (Gentry et al. 2004). The ruling by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (2003), validating the usage of the first available specific name for wild progenitor species has resolved this confusion. Accordingly, the wild species of Gaur is recognized as Bos gaurus, while the domestic form (Mithun, Mithan or Gayal) is referred to as Bos frontalis. 

The genus Bos includes six extant species including B. gaurus (gaur), (Wilson and Reeder 2005), confined to the Oriental Region (Schaller 1967). Many subspecies of gaur have been described; however, the two currently recognized sub-species are Bos gaurus gaurus, occurring in India Nepal, and Myanmar and Bos gaurus laosiensis (Heude 1901) from southern China, Lao PDR, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand north of the Isthmus of Kra and in West Malaysia (Srikosamatara and Suteethorn 1994). Recent work by Groves (2003) also supports this division. 

Further, analysis of skull and horn measurements suggest that the Gaur in north-east India are likely to be intermediate between the Indian and South-east Asian specimens but with more similarity to the south-east Asian variety (cited in Duckworth et al. 2008). In consideration of these phenotypic differences, B. g. gaurus and B. g. laosiensis have been provisionally accepted by IUCN as the two sub-species of Gaur, pending further research required to determine the taxonomy of this species.

Geographical Distribution: 
The historical distribution of Gaur ranged throughout mainland south and south-east Asia and Sri Lanka. At present, Gaur is distributed in South and South-east Asia from India to peninsular Malaysia, occurring in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia but extinct in Sri Lanka (Grubb 2005). In India, the distribution of Gaur is highly fragmented and is confined to the Western Ghats, Central Indian highlands and the foot hills of Himalayas, including the hills south of Brahmaputra River. 

Threats and Conservation Actions:
The species is threatened by habitat loss, degradation and poaching (Choudhury, 2002; Areendran 2007; Duckworth et al. 2008); competition from domestic livestock (Pasha et al. 2004); disease outbreaks in livestock (Salter 1983; Ranjitsinh 1997; Davidar 1997) 
They are categorized as “Vulnerable” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2009. It is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 of India and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which bans all international trade of gaur products. 
Conservation actions to ensure the long term survival of the species include livestock vaccination programs, control of cattle grazing and ensuring protection (Ashokkumar et al. 2011). Additional efforts include translocation to Bandahvagarh where the species went locally extinct in 1996 were undertaken in 2011 and are summarised in Pabla et al. (2011) and Nigam et al. (2014). 



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