Species

Kouprey

The kouprey, Bos sauveli, is a species of wild cattle associated with Cambodia as a national symbol.[1] The Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group gives its name's Khmer meaning as “forest ox.”[2]

A bronze statue of two kouprey, one standing and one lying down, on a red brick plinth against a blue sky
The kouprey monument in Sen Monorom, Mondulkiri Province

Description and range

The species was scientifically described in 1937.[3] A young male was held at the Vincennes Zoo in Paris that year.[4] The specialist group records a former range across Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and considers any surviving animals likely to be restricted to Cambodia.[2]

Sightings and conservation status

Anton L. Delgado's 2022 article in Dialogue Earth, also published by Scroll, dates the last confirmed sighting in northern Cambodia to 1969.[3][5] The specialist group states that none have been confirmed since 1983, while IntoCambodia gives 1957 as the last sighting in Cambodia.[2][1] In 2011, the specialist group reviewed about 90 percent of the region's camera-trap photographs without finding a kouprey image.[3]

The International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the species as Critically Endangered, with the tag “Possibly Extinct,” in May 2016.[6] That assessment gave zero to 50 mature individuals and a decreasing population trend.[6]

National symbol

IntoCambodia attributes the kouprey's designation as Cambodia's national mammal to a royal decree of March 21, 2005.[1] Delgado's 2022 article records kouprey statues at the roundabout by Wat Phnom, at Phnom Tamao zoo and in Senmonorom.[3]

References 6
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 IntoCambodia, Kouprey (Bos Sauveli): The National Mammal of Cambodia (undated)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 IUCN SSC Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, Kouprey (undated)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Dialogue Earth, Anton L. Delgado, “The kouprey: on the trail of Cambodia’s elusive wild cattle” (September 19, 2022)
  4. ↑ The Nature Conservancy, Matthew L. Miller, “Kouprey: The Ultimate Mystery Mammal” (November 8, 2021, updated February 5, 2023)
  5. ↑ Scroll, Anton L Delgado, “The kouprey: Does Cambodia’s national mammal and cultural symbol even exist anymore?” (October 5, 2022)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 IUCN Red List, R. J. Timmins, J. Burton and S. Hedges, Bos sauveli (2016, assessed May 14, 2016)
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This page was last edited on 30 October 2026, at 22:40.