Monitoring body condition score of reintroduced banteng (Bos javanicus D'Alton, 1923) into Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

Praeploy Kongsurakan; Rattanawat Chaiyarat; Seree Nakbun; Nikorn Thongthip; Panat Anuracpreeda

doi:10.7717/peerj.9041

Monitoring body condition score of reintroduced banteng (Bos javanicus D'Alton, 1923) into Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand

PeerJ. 2020 Apr 23:8:e9041. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9041. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Praeploy Kongsurakan¹, Rattanawat Chaiyarat¹, Seree Nakbun², Nikorn Thongthip^{3

4

5}, Panat Anuracpreeda⁶

Affiliations

¹ Wildlife and Plants Research Center, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies, Mahidol University, Phuttamonthon, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
² Khao Nampu Nature and Wildlife Education Center, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Kanchanaburi, Thailand.
³ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
⁴ Center for Agricultural Biotechnology, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
⁵ Center of Excellence on Agricultural Biotechnology, Science and Technology Postgraduate Education and Research Department Commission on Higher Education, Ministry of Education (AG-BIO/PERDO-CHE), Bangkok, Thailand.
⁶ Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University, Phuttamonthon, Nakhon Pathom, 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.

Keywords: Banteng; Body condition score (BCS); Camera trap; Reintroduction; Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary.

Grants and funding

Funding support was received from the Red Bull Beverage Co., Ltd, Thailand. There was no additional external funding received for this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.