Bos frontalis
Silhouette: Cristopher Silva · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The gayal (Bos frontalis), also known as mithun or Drung ox, is a large semi-domesticated cattle in the Himalayan foothills of Indian Subcontinent and primarily in Northeast India. In his first description of 1804, Aylmer Bourke Lambert applied the binomial Bos frontalis to a domestic specimen probably from Chittagong.
In 2003, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature fixed the first available specific name based on a wild population that the name for this wild species is valid by virtue of its being antedated by a name based on a domestic form. Most authors have adopted the binomial Bos frontalis for the domestic species as valid for the taxon.
Phylogenetic analysis corroborates the taxonomic assessment that the gayal is an independent Bos species originating matrilineally from gaur, zebu and taurine cattle. There are two major hypotheses on the origin of the gayal:
It was domesticated from wild gaur; It is a hybrid descendant from crossing of wild gaur and domestic cattle, either Bos indicus or Bos taurus. Analysis of the genome of the gayal was published in 2017. In 2020, a phylogenetic analysis using complete mitochondrial genome sequences unambiguously... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 12 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 13 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 14 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 15 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tierpark Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Hlawga National Park | 🇲🇲 Myanmar (Burma) | |
| 3 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 4 | Thrissur Zoo | 🇮🇳 India |
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Gayal sighting in Bandipur National Park on a given day, based on 128 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 15 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Gayal in Bandipur National Park on a given day, against about 10% in August, the lowest month. Those are among Bandipur National Park's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain a month against almost none in February.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gayal sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Gayal sightings, Bandipur National Park ranks 3rd at about 70%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Kanha National Park (India, about 70%) and Nagarhole National Park (India, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Artiodactyla
The closest relatives of the Gayal that you can see in Bandipur National Park (order Artiodactyla, Even-toed Ungulates and Cetaceans) are Axis Deer (about 80%), Sambar (about 50%) and Wild Boar (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gayal is recorded against all the mammals logged in Bandipur National Park (128 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
