The Great Gaur

Hello friends, I hope you are enjoying the rainy Sunday with the flavor of winning trend of our beloved cricket team, wishing our team a stroke of great luck and hope to see the Cup in the Country soon.

Now back to the wilderness, let me thank everyone for continued support, your overwhelmed response is commendable. Many of you liked the Indian Skimmer blog because they were completely unaware about of existence of such unique birds in India. Many of you were amazed by skimming habit especially skimming pictures, many thanks once again for your blessing.

I know you want to know the topic of the week, so without taking more time lets get into the topic. Today I will enlighten you on Indian Gaur (Indian Bison) which is considered as Buffalo/bull but let me tell you that in reality, this animal is completely different from buffalo/bull in all aspects, so let us meet the giant Gaur and understand how it is different from other cattle and learn more about characters of this heavyweight.

The Common Mistake

The heading is a common mistake because we always treat the Gaurs as buffalo, which is not the fact. Even for the first time when I saw Gaur at Nagzira, my innocent statement was oh kya huge बैल hai!, then Jogi explained that this animal is different and is known as Indian Bison or Indian Gaur. Now I will explain the Characteristics of Gaur so you don't make such a common mistake and you can easily differentiate them from Buffalo.

The Unique Character

The gaur (Bos gaurus), also called the Indian bison, is the largest extant bovine, though it is part of cattle family and is the tallest of wild cattle species

Male Gaurs are black in color, while female Gaurs are brown. Both the hide of male and female Gaurs is white below the knee of each leg, giving the gaur an appearance of wearing white stockings. Gaur calves are light brown and do not have "stockings

Both males and females have upwardly curved horns. They can reach 45 inches in length. They are usually green or yellow in color, with black tips

Gaurs have a high dorsal ridge on the upper back and very large ears. They have a deep hollow area on the forehead and a ridge that passes between the horns. Large ears are another prominent feature on their head

These unique characteristics help us to differentiate Gaur from Buffalo, you can check out pictures in DSLR section to get more clarity. Now let me throw lights on habits, behavior and some other facts of this giant animal

The Facts File

Gaur is the largest representative of the wild cattle. Males weigh between 600kg to 1500kg while female reaches around 1/4^th of the male weigh. They can reach 8 to 11 feet in length and from 5 to 7 feet at the height at shoulder

Gaurs are diurnal animals (active during the day). They are mainly active early in the morning and late in the afternoon. In areas close to humans, gaurs can change their normal routine and become a nocturnal animal (active during the night)

Gaurs are territorial animals. One group requires territory of around 30 square miles. Gaurs live in a group (herd) composed of usually 8-11 animals (rarely up to 40). These groups consist of one dominant male and females. Gaurs live in matriarchate, which means that the group has a female leader

Gaurs produce a different type of sounds for communication. High-pitched growling is used for alarming the members about the upcoming danger

Gaurs are known for their bad temper. Even unprovoked, gaur can attack and inflict deadly injuries using its horns

Gaurs are capable of defending against (and killing) tigers, as well as chasing them off. An old tigress in Navegaon Nagzira Tiger Reserve appears to have died after being wounded by a gaur

Gaurs are among the largest living land animals. Only elephants, rhinos, the hippopotamus and the giraffe consistently grow heavier. Two species that naturally co-exist with the gaur are heavier: the Asian elephant and Indian rhinoceros

Please visit DSLR section, most of the above characters are covered in the DSLR section, thanks so much for your love and support

CONSERVATION STATUS

IUCN Red List. A great percent of their habitat has been destroyed in the last couple of decades, leading to a dramatic decline (70%) in the population of the wild gaurs. Poaching is another factor that affects their survival. Gaurs are listed as vulnerable species (may become endangered in the near future)

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