Planning Your Trip Thailand Bangkok Chiang Mai Kanchanaburi Krabi Pattaya Phuket Samui
Our Animals
 
Birds
 
Mammals
 
Reptiles
 
Endangered
Species
 


Banteng
Bos javanicus


Appearance

The banteng is blue-black, with white stockings and rump, and is quite cow-like in its appearance; females and young are a bright reddish-brown. Bulls may reach 1.5 m (5 ft) at the shoulder, and they have a hairless shield on the crown between the horns. Body: 2 m (6 1/2 ft), tail: 85 cm (33 1/2 in)

Description


Wary and shy, bantengs are found in thickly forested areas where there are glades and clearings in which they can graze during the night. In the monsoon season, they move up the mountains and browse on bamboo shoots. Gregarious animals, bantengs live in herds of 10 to 30 animals, although occasionally large bulls may become solitary.

Regions

Bali, Burma to Java, Borneo in forested, hilly country to 2,000 m (6,600 ft), feeding in small group, around 10-15 ea. From evening upto morning, sleep in daytime, in evergreen forest, not wild animal, head by female.

Diet

Grass, bamboo leaves and shoots and certain fruits,

Breeding

They mate during the dry season, and females produce 1 or 2 calves after a gestation of 9 1/2 to 10 months. Small populations of two sub-species are known: B.J. biarmicus in Burma, Thailand and parts of Indo-China; and B.J. Lowi in Borneo.

Status

Wildlife Protection of Thailand, Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act 1992

Conservation Status

ENDANGERED A1 cd + 2cd,C1+2a       (See explanation to IUCN Red List Categories)

Major Threats

1.1 - Agriculture; 1.1.6 - Timber plantations; 1.3.2 - Human settlement; 2.1 - Hunting and collecting; 2.2.2 - Illegal; 3.2.1 - Competitors; 3.3.3 - Hybridizers; 3.3.4 - Pathogens/parasites

Major Habitat

Lowland tropical rainforest; Tropical degraded forest; Tropical monsoon and dry forest; Tropical savannah woodland (with grass dominated understorey)