Geographical

BORNEAN BANTENG

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The most endangered species in Sabah is one that few people have heard of. Now that the Sumatran rhino has become functional­ly extinct in the state, the dubious title belongs to the Bornean banteng, a species of wild bovid endemic to the island. Land use changes over the past

100 years have driven a decline of the banteng, as a huge human population increase and a shift from swidden (slashand-burn) farming to permanent crops has altered their habitat. They are also subject to widespread poaching. The few remaining herds have, over time, been isolated into separate, highly inbred groups. They are already extinct in neighbouri­ng Brunei and Sarawak.

Banteng are an important part of the Sabah ecosystem: their grazing controls tree growth, allowing plants to push through; their dung fertilises the soil, thereby supporting insects and animals further up the food chain such as birds. ‘They are on the path to extinction,’ says John Payne of BORA. ‘The inbreeding issue and slowly declining small herds can be addressed only by a combinatio­n of pastures developed wherever herds still exist to boost habitat carrying capacity and herd sizes, and by conservati­on.’ Payne believes a captive-breeding programme, similar to that which brought the European bison back from the brink, could reverse the animal’s fortunes, mix genomes and boost numbers. ‘Unfortunat­ely, there is a bizarre sentiment nowadays against captive breeding of any endangered large mammal species, including in the big conservati­on NGOs, which are influenced by social media keyboard warriors, so government­s are now afraid to stick their neck out and support captive breeding,’ says Payne. ‘It’s sad that fashions in thinking are now contributi­ng to their decline.’

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