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New Year of the Ox | Kadoorie Farm sends staff to Cambodia to protect bison to help solve human threats

2021-02-11T16:34:09.600Z


The year of the ox came, but the buffalo was seriously injured late in the year. A few days ago (7th) a buffalo was found with multiple cuts all over his body, injured his sexual organs and scrotum at Pui O Beach, Lantau Island. Lantau love to expose the incident


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Written by: Ouyang Dehao

2021-02-12 00:00

Last update date: 2021-02-12 00:19

The year of the ox came, but the buffalo was seriously injured late in the year.

A few days ago (7th) a buffalo was found with multiple cuts all over his body, injured his sexual organs and scrotum at Pui O Beach, Lantau Island.

The Lantau Buffalo Protection Association, which exposed the incident, does not rule out human factors. If it is not abused, it is also related to the occupation of the buffalo habitat for camping.

In fact, many bisons around the world face the threat of being hunted and killed every day, and there is a crisis of extinction.

Among them, the Cambodian bison disappeared from the world after the 1970s, while the Mindoro buffalo in the Philippines and the central-southern antelope are considered extremely endangered.

Kadoorie Farm’s East Asia Coordinator Chen Beile, based on his many years of experience in conserving bison in Southeast Asia, will explain in detail the status of the existing bison below.

The deciduous dipterocarp forest in the ecological zone of the eastern plains of Cambodia is the largest rare forest in Southeast Asia.

(Provided by Kadoorie Farm)

The southern antelope is actually a cow?

In fact, in addition to local stray cattle that have attracted the attention of animal protection groups, there are also different species of bison all over the world that are facing the crisis of extinction.

Kadoorie Farm East Asia Coordinator Chen Baile said that in terms of scientific classification, domestic cattle include buffalo and yellow cattle, and are not the same species as bison.

Even though the skin color of the two is similar, the body shape of the bison is larger than that of the domestic cattle, and the horns are more curved.

It is characterized by long horns that cannot be shed. He cited the central-south antelope as an example. Although it looks similar to antelope, it belongs to the bovid family.

"It's famous, you sound like an antelope, but it's actually a cow."

The local cattle are mixed breeds

Chen Beile pointed out that although Hong Kong has no records of bison haunts in modern history, when it comes to ancient times 3,000 years ago, there were in fact wild elephants and rhinos in southern China. It is estimated that bison will be one of them.

There are still records of Indian bison hundreds of years ago in western Guangdong.

He pointed out that looking through the literature, local cattle may have been mixed with Javanese bison in ancient times. Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish the difference between bison and domestic cattle.

Cambodian bison disappeared in the 1970s

"Everyone might think that because cattle eat grass, they should not be well protected." No, no. In fact, the existing situation of the eight bison species in Asia is not optimistic.

Among them, the Philippines' Mindoro buffalo and the Central-South Central antelope are both rated as critically endangered. Scientists also estimate that the Cambodian bison has become extinct and disappeared after the 1970s.

Perhaps, because bison and domestic cattle are too similar, they have not been paid attention to by scientists and the public.

Illegal hunting, deforestation, war, etc. threaten the survival of bison

Chen explained that most countries in Asia are still in the developing stage, and the ecological environment is not well managed. Illegal deforestation, illegal mining, wildfires and other activities threaten the survival of bison.

For example, because bisons have majestic horns, hunters who regard hunting as entertainment are attracted. They hunt bison from overseas to the forest, only to be decapitated to make horn specimens; villagers in remote mountainous areas love to hunt bison for food and threaten them. "Qu Yu feels that beating a cow is better than beating a bird for food. Chengtiao village can be fed, so it is very popular."

War is also one of the reasons for the extinction of bison. Chen Beile said that in the 1970s, American scientists photographed a group of Cambodian bison migrating with Javan bison in Cambodia.

However, the civil war broke out in Vietnam and Cambodia at that time, and the bison was the first to become food for soldiers and villagers, and bombs ruthlessly destroyed their habitats, resulting in no trace of Cambodian bison.

Kadoorie Farm was invited to Cambodia to conserve Javan bison in 2017

Fortunately, Kadoorie Farm was invited by the Hainan Provincial Department of Agriculture in 2017 to an economic concession in Kratie Province, Cambodia, to carry out biodiversity conservation work.

Chen Beile refers to the deciduous dipterocarp forest in the Eastern Plains Ecological Zone in Cambodia. It is the largest rare-earth forest in Southeast Asia. It has an area similar to that of Lantau Island. Because the plain has fewer trees and more grass, it inhabits more than half of the world, about 4,000 Javanese bison .

Some scientists even pointed out that the abundance of large local herbivore groups is comparable to the great migration in Africa.

Therefore, Kadoorie Farm sends a team to the local area every year and installs a large number of infrared cameras. Surprisingly, they find that in addition to the population of Javan bison, there are endangered animals such as langurs and green peacocks.

Chen Beile said that the Java bison weighs 800 kilograms and has strong muscles. The head of the adult bull turns grayish white, and the whole body of the leader turns black.

However, the local logging situation is serious. The Kadoorie Farm team and local partners set up a forest patrol team to successfully drive away hundreds of illegal loggers and seize a large number of guns and logging tools.

At the same time, the team also promotes and educates the villagers in the local area, recruiting artists and children to paint murals, hoping to close the relationship and leave the seeds of conservation for the new generation.

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Hire loggers as forest rangers with a monthly salary of $250

However, Chen believes that driving away the loggers is a temporary solution, not a permanent cure. "It is necessary to have a living path first. If the traditional system cuts down trees and hunts, what about eating?" Therefore, the team also invited eco-agricultural experts according to local farmers. It is expected to provide villagers with alternative livelihoods and reduce dependence on ecological damage to obtain income.

He even pointed out that the next step will be to educate villagers to breed chickens and bees.

Chen continued, "One of the most effective tricks is to change the person who cuts the wood from a saboteur to a conservationist." He revealed that the team hired a number of loggers to protect the forest for $250 a month. If they patrol hard And submit the report, you can get a subsidy of tens of dollars.

"The purpose is not to put him in prison, but more importantly, to understand how he will cut trees. Many times I go to see a large group of wood-cutters, holding chainsaws and axes, and they can only melt with a bright smile. Qu Wei."

Villagers are accustomed to bison: he doesn’t know that a cow is rare

In addition, Kadoorie Farms also conserves Indian bison in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. Although Indian bison is classified as a vulnerable animal, its population is small in China.

Chen Beile pointed out that the Indian bison is a "bodybuilder" in the animal world, with a height of 2.2 meters and a weight of 1 ton.

Similarly, depending on the conservation situation, the team provides training for forest rangers in the local area. It also sets up slogans at intersections and establishes bison protection areas to ensure that there is enough grassland to feed the bison and reduce conflicts with villagers.

"I told the villagers that I saw him every day, and I ate and dried my fields. He didn't know that a cow is rare."

However, in addition to affecting the livelihoods of Hong Kong citizens, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has also hindered the conservation team from going to Cambodia and Xishuangbanna to continue conservation work.

Chen Beile hopes that the epidemic will retreat as soon as possible, so that the team will return to the local area as soon as possible to follow up the conservation of bison.

He even pointed out that as long as humans stop hunting bison and protect its habitat, it is believed that bison can recover a certain number without artificial breeding.

"Buffalo has one child per year and one child per year. As long as humans don’t hunt and kill him, it is estimated that he will recover quickly."

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Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-02-11

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