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30
01
2009
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Banteng |
The javan banteng is not as large as some other wild oxen – the gaur, for example – but it stands five feet nine inches at the shoulder, and the record horns are twenty-six and one-half inches on the outside curve. The short hair of adult bulls is blackish-brown or black, and a distinctive characteristic is a large white patch on the rump. Cows are smaller and reddish-chestnut in color.
Being a forest-dwelling animal, the banteng has disappeared in areas where the jungle has been cut down for plantations, and excessive hunting has further depleted its numbers. At present it is quite rare in Java. The flesh is excellent eating and it has been much hunted by the natives for that reason; its hide, too, makes good leather, and forest people always find plenty of uses as utensils and decoration for horns such as the banting possesses.
Some Malay peoples keep herds of semi-domesticated bantengs, often crossed with domestic cattle, for the sake of meat and hides.
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