INDIAN BISONS

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Context: Sri Lanka recently asks India to translocate 6 Indian bisons or gaurs to reintroduce them in the island after three centuries.

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Close on the heels of the project that translocated cheetahs from Namibia, the Indian government is considering a proposal from Colombo to export a number of gaurs, or Indian bisons, to Sri Lanka to revive the population of gavaras that have been extinct in the island since the end of the 17th century.
If the project is cleared, it would be the first such agreement between India and Sri Lanka, and part of a global trend of “wildlife or zoological diplomacy”

About Indian Bison:

Indian Bisons are one of the largest extant bovines. It is one of the largest species among the wild cattle, reaching a shoulder height of up to 220 cm.
The Indian gaur, a reclusive beast that lives in the wild, is the largest wild bovine that is a protected species and included in Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and listed as vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
They are found on the forested hills and grassy areas of south to south east Asia.
There are about 13,000 to 30,000 gaurs in the world with approximately 85% of the population present in India. It is also found in Burma and Thailand.
The Western Ghats in southern India constitute one of the most extensive extant strongholds of gaur, in particular in the Wayanad – Nagarhole – Mudumalai – Bandipur complex.
The first-ever population estimation exercise of the Indian gaur carried out in the Nilgiris Forest Division in February 2020 estimated around 2,000 Indian gaurs to be inhabiting the division.
The gaur is the State Animal of Goa and Bihar.
It is a protected species and included in Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972
Listed as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
It is listed in CITES Appendix I.
Zoological Diplomacy: means the translocation and reintroduction of a species, particularly between neighbouring countries with similar eco-systems. It is considered as a potent tool in
For example, American bison herds were supplemented with animals from Canada after the U.S. herds were almost all wiped out
The U.K. has recently introduced the European bison (Wisent) after an estimated 10,000 years in June 2022
Israel has for decades pursued reintroductions, including of Persian fallow deer.
Arabian oryx and other species have been released into the Negev desert, and South Africa has recently used the export of cheetahs to other African countries as a diplomatic tool during the post-apartheid era.
More recently, Cambodia has requested translocating tigers from India, which is under consideration.