Monitoring body condition score of reintroduced banteng (Bos javanicusD’Alton, 1923) into Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

Abstract

Background Banteng (Bos javanicus d’Alton 1823) are an endangered species, highly sensitive to habitat structure and quality. In many areas, banteng were extinct and needed to be reintroduced to restore their population. Thus, understanding the responses of body condition of reintroduced banteng to their habitat was important for ensuring the sustainability of a reintroduction program. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the body condition of banteng after reintroduction into the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand based on photographs from camera-traps carried out between July 2016 and November 2018. Methods Seven banteng were bred at the Khao Nampu Nature and Wildlife Education Center and systematically reintroduced into the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary in December 2015 (four) and July 2016 (three). The seven reintroduced adults and two newborns (from the 2015 group) were captured via camera traps in 2018. The body condition scoring (BCS) obtained from these photographs was used to identify the individual performance of all seven adults after their reintroduction. Results The BCS scores in reintroduced adult banteng, both males and females, (between 5 and 7 years old) increased significantly over time after reintroduction into a natural habitat (p < 0.05), although the BCS scores in females were not significantly different between the second and third years (p > 0.05). Conclusions The results from the present study suggest that camera traps are a practical tool to assess the BCS of reintroduced banteng, and can be used to monitor their condition post-release. These techniques may be appropriate for translocation programs elsewhere.

Age Structure, Development and Population Viability of Banteng (Bos javanicus) in Captive Breeding for Ex-Situ Conservation and Reintroduction

“…The assessments of body condition by the three assessor groups were similar. The body condition score of bantengs increased with age in both males and females, as found in a previous study of reintroduced bantengs in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary [18]. This finding indicated that the food and nutrition supplied were suitable even though it was lower than the diet available in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary [14].…”

“…Only sets of photos in which all parts of the body were visible were selected for analysis. Each individual was identified by obvious morphological characteristics such as scars, the shape of horns, and collars [18]. The weights and heights of the captive bantengs were assessed by comparison with a pole of known height in the enclosure.…”

“…The condition of seven body parts was rated using a five-level scoring system [18] (Table 1). The Spearman's rank correlation between categorical body composition and the BCS of 23 bantengs was calculated using an R package [20] to assess changes in their condition [21].…”

“…The life history of each animal at KNP, such as name, sex, date of birth, identifying characteristics, vaccination, and pedigree, were recorded along with monthly photographs. This information was used to select suitable bantengs for reintroduction to the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary [9,14,18].…”

Successful predatory‐avoidance behaviour to lion auditory cues during soft‐release from captivity in cheetah

“…Captive-bred individuals, in particular, lose their anti-predatory behaviour within just a few generations (Jolly et al, 2018;Moseby et al, 2015;Rowell et al, 2020;Vilhunen, 2006). Therefore, it is necessary to closely monitor candidates for translocation both pre-and post-reintroduction to ensure that they are not only suitable candidates (Canessa et al, 2016;Kongsurakan et al, 2020;Rozhnov et al, 2011) but are also capable of thriving in these new habitats (Berger-Tal & Saltz, 2014;Blumstein et al, 2019). Despite being largely overlooked by the ecological rewilding community, animal behaviour may yet play a key role in conservation at the level of individually optimised success and sitespecific tailoring for reintroductions (Bremner-Harrison et al, 2018;Merrick & Koprowski, 2017).…”