A herd of banteng including several bulls and females. They are the few left in the wild. — Photo courtesy of Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC)/ Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD)
IN 2019, Sabah declared the Sumatran rhinoceros extinct. Now, a battle is on to stop the Bornean banteng from going the same way. With only about 500 or less animals left in the wild, the banteng – locally known as tembadau or wild cattle – is staring at extinction in Sabah.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has already classified it as “critically endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species.
