Gaur Calves Are A-Gaur-Able!

For an animal with a strange name, the gaur sure does make a cute baby! That’s what you’re looking at folks, gaur calves, the youngest of a species of wild cattle that is currently vulnerable to extinction. Also known as “Indian Bison”, they are native to South and Southeast Asia and has unfortunately seen their population drop by about seventy percent in the last few decades. There are currently efforts to rebuild the population, and they’ve resulted in a stabilization of their numbers. Gaur calves are usually the result of singular births after a nine month gestation period, and they ween from their mother’s care after about a year of living. From that point, the gaur can live up to another thirty years, during which time it will grow horns (unlike other bovine species, both males and females develop horns), engage of most of their activity at night (they have a forced nocturnal nature, as their habitat is encroached upon by humans during the daytime), and live in small herds. They often live in groups of up to eleven individuals, and wander up to three miles a day during grazing. Gaur have been found to be fairly timid when encountered by humans, however they’ve also been know to grow aggressive after repeated exposure, so they might not be the smartest animals to pet. Regardless of whether you can hand feed them or not, gaur babies are still adorable members of a majestic species, and we hope that conservation efforts keep them grazing the planet for many generations.