The heavyweights of the animal kingdom, they can be easily recognised thanks to their sartorial elegance — socks stretched right up to their knees at all times! Of the land animals, only the elephant, the rhino and the giraffe are heavier. It is time to introduce you to the majestic Indian bison, also known as the gaur.
Gaur (Bos gaurus) in Sanskrit and Hindi means fair skinned buffalo. In appearance, the Indian bison is quite formidable being the tallest, heaviest and most muscular of the wild cattle. Growing up to seven ft high and 11 feet long, the animals can weigh from 800 to 1,000 kg. Males are taller and heavier than females. With mild eyes and large ears, these bovines have hollow horns measuring up to 75 cm. Social by nature they live in small groups. The gestation period is nine months and they give birth to one calf usually. They live up to 30 years.
The Indian bison is spread across South Asia and South-east Asia with the Malayan gaur and the Burmese gaur comprising the other two sub-species. They prefer undisturbed forest tracts (evergreen and semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests) with a hilly terrain. They feed on grass, bamboo, shrubs and different tree leaves. In summer, they feed on tree bark.
When food is scarce herds group together.
The first time we came across these animals, we only got to hear them! At Thekkady in Kerala, we were walking uphill under the shade of tall trees with our guide looking upwards at the forest canopy in order to spot the Nilgiri langurs.
Suddenly, from nearby we heard a heavy sound — thud thud thud — and a bison herd thundered past us down the slopes, breaking the silence of the forest. Our guide guessed that it was a 40-strong herd. For a long time the deafening sound of their hooves over the wet forest floor echoed in our ears.
Of course, later on, we got to see them many times in the wild. On one occasion at the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary while climbing downhill, we came across an entire herd grazing 300 metres below amidst tall sparse trees with a heavy undergrowth of shrubs. At first, we saw just one or two and then slowly one by one they began to emerge from the undergrowth, horn, shoulder, head and all — 20 of them including cows, bulls and calves.
Forget the calves, even the bulls seemed as if hidden in the thick undergrowth. They were in shades of brown, black and red. More majestic looking than the American bison and the African Cape Buffalo, the Indian bison has often been ignored with not much known about it.
Another sighting of this creature was when we were engaged in animal census work at Bandipur. As we walked along a narrow path back to our jeep, we saw this fine specimen of a bison — with its smooth, slender horns, shimmering skin and ‘socks’ — straining its neck to reach the leaves on a shrub. Sensing us, it kicked up its legs, shook its horns vigorously, called out aloud and bolted into the dense thickets.
At Sirsi, Karnataka, there is a small hill, Gamayana Guddu, named after these bison, which are able to climb the steep portions despite their weight. The rutting calls of the males can be heard in the villages below. At many places, the uprooted grass shoots bear testimony to the fight between the males for dominance.
Their impressive size deters their enemies who are very few. Sometimes, a tiger ends up killing a bull which is five times heavier. But there are records of a bison killing a tiger with its horns and ridge by smashing it against the trees. They protect their calves by surrounding them, even chasing tigers away. Sometimes, the calf and the mother separate from the group and that is when hunters attack the calf.
The International Union for Conservation lists the Indian Bison as vulnerable. Apart from habitat loss, Indian bison are facing threat from poachers for their meat and the demand for their horns.