Rare wild gaur caught on camera in Yunnan

KUNMING - A gaur, or Indian bison, has been caught on camera in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

An infrared camera installed in the Mengyang Nature Reserve, part of the Xishuangbanna National Nature reserve, captured the wild animal looking for food, according to the administration of the reserve.

The gaur is a Class-I protected animal in China and is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. According to the reserve administration, the species used to roam freely across Xishuangbanna, but increasing human population and human activities have threatened its habitat, pushing it towards the edge of extinction in the region.

Other wild animals, such as Asian elephants, were also caught on camera.

In 2015, authorities launched a program to regenerate the plants that make up the main food sources of the wild animals in the Mengyang Nature Reserve to stop animals entering villages and populated areas looking for food.

"The camera footage of the gaur means that our efforts are working," said a reserve staff member.