Kouprey
| Kouprey | ||||||||||||
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Koupreys: bull and cow (right) compared to humans |
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| Bos sauveli | ||||||||||||
| Urbain , 1937 |
The Kouprey ( Bos sauveli ) was a type of cattle . This wild cattle was largely unknown because it lived hidden in the rainforest of Southeast Asia . It was located in the three-country corner of Cambodia , Laos and Vietnam .
Surname
The name Kouprey or Kouproh means “gray ox” in the language of the indigenous population. The specific epithet sauveli is reminiscent of the French veterinarian René Sauvel , who practiced in Cambodia. He had the horns of a bull, which led to the discovery and first description of the species.
Species status
The Kouprey had characteristics of both the Zebu and the Banteng , so that the possibility has long been considered that this species is a hybrid of both species. There were also theories that the Kouprey was an original and now feral breed of domestic cattle . The zoologist Frits Braestrup even proposed in 1960 that the Koupreys were actually a surviving population of the aurochs . It is now believed that genetic matches with the Banteng occurred through natural hybridization during the Pleistocene .
description
With a shoulder height of 180 cm and a weight of 800 kg, the Kouprey stood between the Gaur and the Banteng. The bull's fur was dark brown, that of the cows and calves gray. Bulls had a huge dewlap that almost reached the floor. The horns of the cows were 40 cm, those of the bulls 80 cm.
Discovery and Status
Sightings of the Kouprey are documented from the years 1860 (by Campbell), 1860 (by Dufossé) and 1933 (by Vittoz). The first scientific description was made in 1937 by Achille Urbain using a young male cattle that was caught in the Cambodian province of Preah Vihear . This specimen was kept in the Zoo de Vincennes , Paris , until his death in 1941 . In 1938 the total stock was estimated at 800 copies, 500 in 1952 and only 200 in 1964. Prince Sihanouk kept one in the garden of his palace until the late 1960s . In 1964 the zoologist Wharton managed to catch five adult Koupreys, two of which died and three escaped. In 1982 three Koupreys were sighted on the Thai - Cambodian border. While trying to capture them, a gamekeeper died in a land mine. A rescue concept initiated by the IUCN in 1988 failed because of the political situation in Indochina and because no further evidence was provided. The Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group of the IUCN / ISS is now assumed that the Kouprey is very likely extinct.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexandre Hassanin, Anne Ropiquet: Resolving a zoological mystery: the kouprey is a real species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, online from September 11, 2007, doi : 10.1098 / rspb.2007.0830
- ↑ Scientists doubt the existence of the Kouprey (English); the November 3, 2006 article referred to a study by GJ Galbreath et al. in J. Zool. 270, pp. 561-564 (2006)
swell
- Galbreath, GJ, JC Mordacq & FH Weiler (2006): Genetically solving a zoological mystery: was the kouprey (Bos sauveli) a feral hybrid? Journal of Zoology 270: 561-564.
- Hassanin A., A. Ropiquet, R. Cornette, M. Tranier, P. Pfeffer, P. Candegabe & M. Lemaire (2006): Has the kouprey (Bos sauveli Urbain, 1937) been domesticated in Cambodia? CR Biologies 329: 124-135.
- Hoffmann, RS (1986): A new locality record for the kouprey from Vietnam, and an archaeological record from China . Mammalia 50: 391-395.
- MacKinnon, JR & SN Stuart (Eds.) (1989): The Kouprey, An Action Plan for its Conservation . IUCN / SSC, Gland, Switzerland.
- Wharton, CH (1957): An Ecological Study of the Kouprey (Novibos sauveli Urbain) . Monographs of the Institute of Science and Technology, Monograph 5, Manila, Philippines
Web links
- Bos sauveli in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2013. Posted by: RJ Timmins, S. Hedges et al, 2008. Retrieved on August 11, 2013 ...
- Asian Wild Cattle Specialists Group: Kouprey Extinct
- WWF: Asian wild cattle