Banteng

Fascinating facts about the Banteng

• Male banteng calves weigh just 16-17 kg at birth, yet females can carry a single calf for a gestation of nearly 285 days, about a week longer than domestic cattle, before delivering a newborn that will nurse for up to 16 months. This prolonged maternal investment helps the youngster grow quickly enough to survive the high mortality of its first six months, a crucial window for a species whose wild populations number fewer than 5,000 individuals worldwide.
• Adult male banteng can tip the scales at up to 800 kg (1,764 lb), with the largest wild bulls reaching 900 kg or more and standing 1.76-1.91 m at the withers. Their horns, 60-95 cm long, and a pronounced hump formed by elongated thoracic vertebrae give them a silhouette.
• Banteng herds range from two to forty animals, usually with a single dominant bull, while older males form small bachelor groups of two or three. This social structure, combined with their keen sense of smell and hearing, makes them highly alert and difficult to approach, a behavior that helps them evade predators such as tigers and dholes.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Banteng

In the lush, vibrant heart of Southeast Asia, the banteng roams, a majestic and elusive creature, its tawny coat blending seamlessly with the dappled shade of the forest floor. With a gentle, deliberate gait, it moves through the underbrush, its large, dark eyes watchful and aware, as if attuned to the subtlest whispers of the wild. As one of the most endangered large mammals on the planet, the banteng's very existence is a poignant reminder of the fragility and beauty of the natural world.

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