Captive breeding of endangered banteng needed amid constant threat of poaching

Two bull bantengs displaying along a river in one of the forest reserves in Sabah (courtesy: DGFC)

KOTA KINABALU: Captive breeding of Sabah's endangered Bornean banteng (wild buffaloes) is needed as the ever-present threat of poaching might wipe out the species altogether in the state, a scientific study finds.

The study on the poaching threat to banteng found that there was an "absolutely crucial" need to stop hunting of the species as there were only about 320 of them estimated left in the wild, based on 2017 population figures.