Banteng

Appearance

The Banteng shows extensive sexual dimorphism. Adult bulls are generally dark brown to black, larger and more sturdily built than adult cows, that are thinner and usually pale brown or chestnut red. Some bulls may retain their brown colour, sometimes with white spots similar to those seen in deer. The coat of young bulls is reddish brown, and progressively attains the adult colouration starting from the front to the rear parts.

The mean shoulder height of wild Javan and Indochinese Banteng is 1.4 m (4.6 ft) for cows and 1.6 m (5.2 ft) for bulls. Bornean Banteng, the smallest subspecies, are shorter.

The Banteng is similar to taurine cattle, with head-and-body length between 1.9 and 2.25 m (6.2 and 7.4 ft).

Range and habitat

Banteng occur in a variety of habitats throughout their range, among them open deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, lower montane forests, abandoned farms and grasslands. The largest populations of wild Banteng occur in Cambodia, Java and possibly in Borneo, Viet Nam (Tay Nguyen) and Thailand. Domesticated Banteng occur in Bali and many eastern Indonesian islands (such as Sulawesi, Sumbawa, and Sumba), Australia, Malaysia and New Guinea.

Domesticated Banteng occur in Bali and many eastern Indonesian islands (such as Sulawesi, Sumbawa, and Sumba), Australia, Malaysia, and New Guinea. Surveys in eastern Cambodia between 2009 and 2011 estimated the total population in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary and Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary at 1,980–5,170 individuals.

Habitat labels include forest.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet and breeding

Vocalisations such as roars and bellows might be common during the breeding season. Calves within seven months may produce soft eng sounds. Herbivores, Banteng feed on vegetation such as grasses, sedges, shoots, leaves, flowers and fruits.

Domestic Banteng can become sexually mature at as early as 13 months of age, and breed after another three months. Breeding has been observed throughout the year in captivity and in wild Banteng in Myanmar, though wild individuals on Cobourg Peninsula mate mainly in October and November, and in Thailand mating peaks in May and June.

In crisis

The wild Banteng is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and populations have decreased by more than 50% in the past few decades. In 2008, the IUCN estimated the global Banteng population at 5,000–8,000 individuals. The Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary population is estimated in have decline rapididly from 382 in 2010, with too few recorded in 2020 to produce a population estimate.

Populations in Sre Pok Wildlife Sanctuary and Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary have declined from around 1000 in each site in 2010 to only 370 and 485 respectively in 2020. The only populations of more than 50 individuals in Thailand occur in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary and possibly in the Kaeng Krachan National Park.

Banteng is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Banteng, Wikidata item Q183035. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.