Jackson Creek Middle School

The Gray Ox

• The Gray Ox is often called the Kouprey.

• The Gray Ox can be found in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

• The Gray Ox is the national animal of Cambodia.

• The Gray Oxen's scientific name is Bos Sauveli.

• They eat tall and short grasses, bamboo grasses, ploong grasses, koom grasses, sometimes they eat the leaves of trees and bushes, and they get minerals from salt licks and termite mounds.

• They mate in April and the offspring is born between December and February.

• Their gestation period (time between the start of pregnancy and birth) is 8-9 months.

• They are endangered because of local hunters, guerrilla soldiers, their habitat has been cleared, and they breed in small groups.

• Luckily the countries that the Gray Ox lives in have stopped people from hunting them, they are protected by 3 major wild reserves.

• There are less than 250 Gray Oxen remaining in the world which is listed as critically endangered.

Everyone can benefit from the Gray Ox. They can be used as a domestic animal, which means that they are useful on a farm. they are used like any other ox on farms, mainly for plowing the fields. Also scientists are experimenting with the Gray Ox and the domestic cow by having them mate and then see how well their offspring can be used on the farm or as a domestic animal. The reason why their offspring will be better farm animals is because the offspring grow faster, adapt to their surroundings better, and have a lower chance of getting diseases in their lifetime.Lastly if the Gray Ox is extinct, Cambodia will need a new national animal.

Silver Team Endangered Species Page

Jackson Creek Middle School

Bibliography

Links to pictures

By Jason S.

2/1/05