Context: Recently, the first population estimation exercise of the Indian Gaur (Bison) was carried out in the Nilgiris Forest Division, Tamil Nadu. Where World Wide Fund for Nature India assisted the exercise and highlighted that there are estimated 2,000 Indian gaurs across the division.
About Indian Gaur

• The Indian Gaur also called the Indian bison is one of the largest extant bovines found in India.
• It is native to South and Southeast Asia and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
• The global population has been estimated at maximum 21,000 mature individuals by 2016.
• It declined by more than 70% during the last three generations, and is extinct in Sri Lanka and probably also in Bangladesh.
• In Malaysia, it is called Seladang and Pyaung in Myanmar. The domesticated form of the gaur is called Gayal (Bos frontalis) or Mithun.
• They are highly threatened by poaching for trade to supply international markets, but also by opportunistic hunting, and specific hunting for home consumption.

Concerns
Proximity to human settlements:

• It was noticed that a majority of the gaurs preferred to inhabit tea estates and human settlements, while the animals largely avoided forested areas.
• The reasons for this could be due to the easy availability of food in and around human settlements, the lack of threat from predators, and the spread of invasive flora into reserve forests.

Change in land use pattern

• The region is witnessing changing land-use patterns, with existing tea estates being converted into resorts and buildings.
• This translates to fences becoming more prominent around these properties and severely limiting traditional pathways used by the gaur to move between habitats.
• Habitat fragmentation remains a major factor in pushing the animals into proximity with humans.

Man-animal conflict

• The study notes with concern that the majority of the animals in “conflict-prone” areas in the region live perilously close to human habitations due to habitat loss and fragmentation, exacerbating the probability of man-animal conflict.
• On an average, a total of 60 gaurs die each year in the Nilgiris Forest Division, many due to accidents related to living close to human habitations.
• Major towns of Coonoor, Udhagamandalam, Kotagiri and Kundah have witnessed an increasing number of problematic human-gaur interactions in the Nilgiris over the last few years. In 2019, three people were killed and seven others injured by Indian gaurs.

Misguided notions

• The notion that more Indian gaurs are being spotted within the towns due to a steady increase in their population over the last decade could be misleading conservation efforts.

About World Wide Fund for Nature India

• Established as a Charitable Trust on 27 November, 1969, WWF India set out with the aim of reducing the degradation of Earth’s natural environment and building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. 
• In 1987, the organization changed it's name from the World Wildlife Fund to World Wide Fund for Nature India. 
• With five decades of extensive work in the sector, WWF India today is one of the leading conservation organizations in the country.
• WWF India is a science-based organization which addresses issues such as the conservation of species and its habitats, climate change, water and environmental education, among many others. 
• Over the years, its perspective has broadened to reflect a more holistic understanding of the various conservation issues facing the country and seeks to proactively encourage environmental conservation by working with different stakeholders- Governments, NGOs, schools and colleges, corporates, students and other individuals. 

Mission Statement: To stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:

• Conserving the world's biological diversity
• Ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable
• Promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption