[12] It is a strong and massively built bovine with a high convex ridge on the forehead between the horns, which protrudes anteriorly, causing a deep hollow in the profile of the upper part of the head.

The upper part of the head, from above the eyes to the nape of the neck, is ashy grey, or occasionally dirty white.

The cows and young bulls are paler, and in some instances have a rufous tinge, which is most marked in groups inhabiting dry and open areas.

The horns are decidedly flattened at the base and regularly curved throughout their length, and are bent inward and slightly backward at their tips.

The colour of the horns is some shade of pale green or yellow throughout the greater part of their length, but the tips are black.

[18] The gaur historically occurred throughout mainland South and Southeast Asia, including Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China.

Gaur habitat is characterized by large, relatively undisturbed forest tracts, hilly terrain below an elevation of 1,500 to 1,800 m (4,900 to 5,900 ft), availability of water, and an abundance of forage in the form of grasses, bamboo, shrubs, and trees.

Its apparent preference for hilly terrain may be partly due to the earlier conversion of most of the plains and other low-lying areas to croplands and pastures.

The Western Ghats and their outflanking hills in southern India constitute one of the most extensive extant strongholds of gaur, in particular in the Wayanad – Nagarhole – Mudumalai – Bandipur complex.

In the mostly semi-evergreen Dong Phayayen – Khao Yai Forest Complex, they were recorded at low density at the turn of the century, with an estimated total of about 150 individuals.

[27] Several herds persist in Cát Tiên National Park and in adjacent state forest enterprises.

The most substantial population of the country remained in Mondulkiri Province, where up to 1,000 individuals may have survived up to 2010 in a forested landscape of over 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi).

[34] Subsequent surveys carried out a decade later using fairly intensive camera trapping did not record any gaur any more, indicating a massive decline of the population.

In the mid-1990s, a population of 600–800 individuals may have lived in Yunnan Province, with the majority occurring in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.

[2] In 2016, it was estimated that the global population has declined by more than 70% in Indochina and Malaysia during the last three generations of 24–30 years, and that the gaur is locally extinct in Sri Lanka.

During the dry season, herds congregate and remain in small areas, dispersing into the hills with the arrival of the monsoon.

[37] In some regions in India where human disturbance is minor, the gaur is very timid and shy despite their great size and power.

Gaur bulls may charge without provocation, especially during summer, when the intense heat and parasitic insects make them more short-tempered than usual.

[15] The gaur grazes and browses mostly the upper portions of plants, such as leaf blades, stems, seeds and flowers of grass species, including kadam Adina cordifolia.

[38] During a survey in the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and Mollem National Park, gaurs were observed to feed on 32 species of plants.

They consume herbs, young shoots, flowers, fruits of elephant apple (Dillenia) with a high preference for leaves.

In winter and monsoon, they feed on preferably fine and fresh true grasses and herb species of the legume family, such as tick clover (Desmodium triflorum), but also browse on leaves of shrub species such as karvy (Strobilanthes callosus), Indian boxwood (Gardenia latifolia), mallow-leaved crossberry (Grewia abutifolia), East-Indian screw tree (Helicteres) and the chaste tree (Vitex negundo).

They may turn to available browse species and fibrous teak bark in summer as green grass and herbaceous resources dry up.

Leopards, dhole packs and large mugger crocodiles occasionally attack unguarded calves or unhealthy animals.

However, the habitat and distribution of the gaur and saltwater crocodile seldom overlap in recent times, due to the decreasing range of both species.

[40][41][42] Tigers hunt young or infirm gaur, but have also been reported to have killed healthy bulls weighing at least 1,000 kg (2,200 lb).

[43] When confronted by a tiger, the adult members of a gaur herd often form a circle surrounding the vulnerable young and calves, shielding them from the big cat.

As tigers rely on ambush attacks when taking on prey as large as a gaur, they will almost always abandon a hunt if detected and met in this manner.

The calf was carried and brought successfully to term by a surrogate mother, a domestic cow (Bos taurus).