Hi folks....

(prompted by the other banteng thread on here)

I thought you might be interested in some images taken by one of our guides out at Cobourg in recent weeks. The photographer is Chris Nash. .... well done Chris!! Wild banteng - up close and personal.

For those not familiar with them... banteng (Bos javanicus) - they are a unique wild bovine species, wild and native to the Indonesian archipelago and parts of South East Asia. They are an endangered species in their homelands as is their closest relative, the gaur or seladang (Bos gaurus).Banteng were bought to Australia in the early 1800’s and soon formed a wild population that has thrived on the Cobourg Peninsular (now Gurig Gunak Barlu National Park) of the Northern Territory. Cobourg Peninsular is the only place where they can be hunted in the wild, anywhere in the world, although there is a game ranch in the Northern Territory that has a healthy herd of around 300 animals and offers limited tags per season. Hunting in the National Park is restricted to around 40 tags per season at the moment.

Banteng are one of the rarest huntable animals in the world and the hunting on Cobourg Pen. just blows you away... They are a unique and truly dangerous game animal – coupled with the other two dangerous big-game species in Australia – scrub bull and the Asiatic buffalo, making a formidable trio.

Hopefully I will have some more images for you in the next couple days....

Cheers for now
Matt

No show for me Matt

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
Hmmm dont know why the broken links?? Here are the images to view individually until the problem is fixed..

Maybe they are too big but that doesnt explain why the hotlink doesnt work??

Hi Matt,

I have hotlinking disabled on both my servers mate, have added an exception for AR and so the links work on here now

You aren't helping my checkbook with those pics, Matt!!

One of these days (sooner than later), I'll chase these brutes up in the Coburg..

Super photos. Thanks for posting them.

quote:

Originally posted by Scottyboy:
You aren't helping my checkbook with those pics, Matt!!

One of these days (sooner than later), I'll chase these brutes up in the Coburg..

Super photos. Thanks for posting them.

Furthermore... banteng generally live in small family groups of 3-10 cows and calves plus a herd bull or two thrown in.. when the time is right. As they are in a natural herd dynamic on Cobourg, you do see a lot of lone bulls and batchelor groups, many of the lone bulls being old bulls past their prime. Banteng display sexual dimorphism – the bulls colouration turning darker to black on maturity and then fading again to grey/tan when they go past their breeding age.

On Cobourg the dry, sandy woodland is broken up by numerous springs and creeklines and these creeks have dense tropical forest that the banteng typically retreat to during the day.They are extremely wary animals that spook and run at the first sight or smell of danger – this spookiness translates to danger for the hunter, especially with bulls that are wounded, pursued or feel threatened or trapped. Charges from wounded animals are common.

During the early morning and late afternoon the banteng can be found venturing out from the creeklines and shade to graze, which is where you are most likely to take a trophy animal.

.... when I think up some more stuff I will post it!! :

Hmmm.... so the oldest bull in the pics is the third one down?

Almost certainly...

He is long and heavy, light colour and ribs sticking out. He also shows a different horn shape to others - quite curled... others stick almost straight out, while some are in-between, coming straight out and then curling forward to parallel each other.

Are Banteng bad tempered???

what does a bull weigh? What dictates a "trophy" Banteng?

Good questions!!

Bad tempered?? unprovoked I would not say so... but unwounded bulls have been known to attack hunters who pursue them or get in their way and certainly wounded bulls do. A non-hunting tourist was jumped out at one of the resorts on Cobourg a couple of years ago... suffered some injuries. That being said a startled banteng is much more inclined to flight rather than fight... as are most animals as I would understand.

Mature bulls weigh up to 1500-1800 pounds. They are no where near as heavy in the muscle department as a water buffalo.

Trophy bull? The trophy is in the eye of the beholder!! Any mature bull measuring 65 SCI or bigger is a good one. Everyone is looking for 70+ inch bull but of course not everyone gets one and some hunters will take a lesser bull just because they like the style of it (size, different horn shape, etc). SCI measurement is total inches - sum of both horn lengths plus girth around the bases.

To continue my story....

Hunting out on Cobourg is dictated by the geography of the place and the fact that you are not allowed to hunt from a vehicle. The whole peninsular and National Park is divided into three separate peninsulars, each with a road running up the spine. From these roads you can walk down to the ocean in both directions (in some case different oceans!). You cannot shoot from these roads (public roads) although you can spot and stalk a bull from the road.
As it is a National Park you cannot drive off the established roads to hunt (as we do in the buffalo areas), so it is basically a foot hunt for the most part. You can drive to retrieve a trophy but many guides prefer to carry the trophies out. In recent years the Park has been devastated by cyclones (one almost flattened the place in March 2005), so there are still lots of fallen trees that make driving off-track difficult and even hiking through open forest a challenge at times.
Some bulls can be taken easier than others, spotted from the roads as mentioned or from stalking around swamps close by but the majority of trophy bulls are taken by stalking along the springs and creeklines. This involves a fair amount of hiking, often in the tropical heat, and a reasonable level of fitness. This is what I would call a ‘hunters hunt’!
Banteng bulls are strong and tenacious. They require a quality projectile of adequate calibre to get them on the ground in reasonable fashion, with safety for the hunting party and less chance losing the animal or having to follow-up in dense cover. 375/300gn is a sensible minimum but I would suggest with modern projectiles a 338 calibre would do a fine job too.

Here is the News.com.au story from 2007 about the Cobourg attack. It does say 'buffalo' in this account but if memory serves me, it did turn out to be a banteng... if I am wrong someone please correct me.

Either way - this (coupled with other attacks) just goes to show what these animals (including buffalo) are capable of - unprovoked attacks, while not the norm.... do happen (although some members on here would suggest otherwise)

Incidently I met some Cobourg locals recently who told me that they spotted a live banteng bull recently in the vicinity of this very resort with an arrow shaft sticking out of its neck... poachers staying at Seven Spirit??

News Story

Woman gored by buffalo rushed to hospital

By Matt Cuttingham

Northern Territory News

September 01, 2007 08:02am

A WOMAN has been rushed to hospital after she was gored by a buffalo at a remote Northern Territory resort.
The Melbourne woman, 49, was holidaying with her husband and two friends at Seven Spirit Bay on the Cobourg Peninsula, northeast of Darwin, when the buffalo charged.

Peppers Seven Spirit Bay manager Robyn Doone said the four tourists were on a guided walking safari with a tour guide about 5pm on Thursday when the buffalo attack occurred.

"It's never happened before," she said. "It's one of those awful incidents. It's one in a million, really."

The guide administered first aid at the scene while a safari vehicle was called from the resort to drive her about 5km back to safety.

A medivac helicopter then took her to Royal Darwin Hospital, where she was in a stable condition yesterday with cuts and bruising.

The woman's husband flew with her to Darwin while their travel companions remained at the resort.

Ms Doone said the group were walking along a deserted beach in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park when they disturbed the large male buffalo.

She said the buffalo sprang out of the bushes and hit the woman.

Ms Doone said the national park was home to much wildlife, including buffalo, but this was the first attack she knew of.

"The lodge has been conducting guided walking safaris for 18 years and this is the first incident of its kind," she said.

The woman was making a steady recovery in hospital and is expected to fly home to Melbourne early next week.

The attack came as the Northern Territory News reported many potential domestic tourists were choosing other holiday destinations ahead of the NT because of the Territory's wild, outback image.

quote:

Banteng bulls are strong and tenacious. They require a quality projectile of adequate calibre to get them on the ground in reasonable fashion, with safety for the hunting party and less chance losing the animal or having to follow-up in dense cover. 375/300gn is a sensible minimum but I would suggest with modern projectiles a 338 calibre would do a fine job too.

And yet, Matt, wasn't the SCI #1 Banteng killed with a bow just last year?

quote:

Originally posted by DAL:
And yet, Matt, wasn't the SCI #1 Banteng killed with a bow just last year?

Not sure what the animal was - havent seen it in the record book. Dont know if it was the overall #1 or the archery #1.

Sure they can be taken with other methods - bow, crossbow, handgun, muzzleloader, etc... I was just talking sensible minimum for a rifle (all things being considered). One would approach an 'alternative method' hunt for such an animal a little differently than a rifle hunt, being that you generally can only expect one shot from those alt. methods - so you would be aiming for a single shot to take out double-lung (ensuring certain death) - whereas with a rifle you would be looking to break bone as well - at least that is how I would approach it.

Talking alt. methods... one of our guys took what I believe will be the new #1 SCI banteng with a muzzleloader as well as the new #1 buffalo the following week. Both of these will be entered in the record books but I dont think they have been submitted yet. It was a great effort by the hunter involved...