Mapping threatened Thai bovids provides opportunities for improved conservation outcomes in Asia

Over half of the suitable habitat for five threatened Thai bovid species lies outside protected areas, with just 9% of buffalo habitat within Thai sanctuaries. This finding highlights critical gaps in conservation efforts and potential areas for habitat management and conflict mitigation. Researchers used ecological niche models and spatially-restricted Biotic-Abiotic-Mobility frameworks to map suitable habitats, combining species occurrence data with environmental variables. Ensembles from eight algorithms validated model performance, revealing strong predictions for gaur, banteng, and buffalo (≥80% accuracy in Thailand), while serow and Chinese goral showed improved performance with a 5 km movement buffer. Large suitable areas were identified in Thailand, India, and Cambodia, emphasizing the need for targeted conservation strategies to protect these species.

Horpiencharoen, W., Muylaert, R. L., Marshall, J. C., John, R. S., Lynam, A. J., Riggio, A., Godfrey, A., Ngoprasert, D., Gale, G. A., Ash, E., Bisi, F., Cremonesi, G., Clements, G. R., Yindee, M., Shwe, N. M., Pin, C., Gray, T. N. E., Aung, S. S., Nakbun, S., et al. (2024). Mapping threatened Thai bovids provides opportunities for improved conservation outcomes in Asia. Royal Society Open Science, 11(9). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240574