[5] The kouprey was described by Achille Urbain in 1937 based on an adult individual that was caught in northern Cambodia and was kept at the Paris Zoological Park.

[7] In 2021, it was established that the kouprey represents a distinct species unrelated to zebu, forming a polytomy with the banteng and gaur due to incomplete lineage sorting, suggesting extensive hybridisation between their ancestors and resulting in the mitochondrial DNA of kouprey being nested within a group including a mixture of both banteng and gaur.

[9] Kouprey are a sexually dimorphic species and along with having different colour coats, males and females are distinguishable by the remarkably different shapes of their horns.

Those of bulls are widely-set, similar to those of wild yaks, growing outwards before arching forwards and upwards, eventually fraying at the tips.

[9] To avoid the hottest parts of the day, kouprey feed during the early morning and late afternoon, moving into denser forest for respite during midday.

[16] Conservation efforts for the kouprey began in 1960 when Norodom Sihanouk, then head of state of Cambodia, gave the species protected status and created three natural reserves for it.

These protected areas continued to be maintained by Norodom Sihanouk's successor, Lon Nol, but became neglected during the time of Khmer Rouge rule under Pol Pot.

Headed and coordinated by the IUCN, in collaboration with the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, this had the aim of creating a feasible and realistic action plan for immediate kouprey conservation.

Other organizations that attended and contributed to the action plan were the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Centre for Environmental Studies, VNIUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), the Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, as well as WWF International.

[12] A 2011 examination by the IUCN of camera trap photos from northern Cambodia, some taken in known kouprey habitat, failed to turn up evidence of the animal.

The goal of the study, through the examination of historical surveys and camera trap records, is to determine whether or not there is still suitable kouprey habitat that has yet to be searched.

[11] Potential depictions of kouprey in rock art have been documented in the Cardamon Mountains of Cambodia,[21] and carvings in the temples of Angkor Wat have been found to resemble the animal as well.