Indian Gaur Eating Sal Leaves

Indian Gaur stretching long powerful tongue to reach some fresh green sal leaves. Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India.

The Indian gaur (Bos gaurus), also known as the Indian bison, is a powerfully built bovine native to South and Southeast Asia. The Gaur is the largest bovid in the world; males can stand over 6 feet tall and weigh around 1500 kg! Females are smaller in size and build, weighing around 1000 kg.

Male Gaur can be identified by the enormous hump above their shoulders, gigantic horns, and a flap of skin around their neck called a dewlap. Males are primarily blackish brown in colour, females are a lighter shade of brown and the calves are lighter still.

Gaur are herbivores, and feed on a wide variety of vegetation. They can be found grazing in the meadows, eating flowers and and fruits or using their long tongues to strip the leaves from tree branches In the harsher months, they have been observed stripping the bark off trees to access the moisture inside. 

Gaur have been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. With an estimated population of 7,000-20,000 individuals, gaur are one of the world’s most endangered bovine species. As the human population continues to explode and demand more and more space, wildlife continues to decline.

You can find out more about Indian Gaur here.