Gaur Pair at Whipsnade 08/05/11

Bos gaurus

The prize for 'best shot of Gaur pair at Whipsnade' goes to........Maguari! It is also the first shot I've seen of this pair in one frame. The homebred bull looks magnificent now, must be almost fully mature.

Breeding soon I hope.

Why thank you! There is also a slightly less-impressive one moments before with the bull's head lower, then he huffed himself up as you see him here as if he were deliberately posing! He is indeed looking a fine animal now.

Here's hoping!

It is a splendid shot. The bull does not look quite mature to me: just wait until he is completely black

Alan

Thanks Alan!

One thing I only noticed after uploading is you can almost see the leading edge of the 'adult' black colouration as it overtakes the 'juvenile' brown - a line from the nape of the neck to the, well, er, yes. There.

Its such a good shot I've come back for another look.. I agree he's not really mature yet- the shoulder/dorsal hump isn't tall enough and he's not 'shiny' black in colour yet. But very good to see them with a potential young breeding pair again.

I just wish they had six, not two! Maybe in time...

Just updating- I believe with the recent birth they now have 3.1?

As females seem difficult for them to produce themselves, it would be good to see them bring in additional females and get a real herd going.

Are there any sufficiently unrelated females within the scope of the EEP?

For all my sometimes jaundiced views of current ZSL animal manangement, I admire their determination not to give up with this wonderful species. I just wish that the animals would respond with a run of heifer calves...

Agree. It has been rather unexpected. Even just one additional female would help perhaps- if they could source one.

Is this an issue for captive population of gaur generally? Some species in captivity seem to respond to inbreeding or possibly other conditions with a gender sway.