{"id":369605,"date":"2026-08-14T14:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T08:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=369605"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T08:57:18","slug":"mithun-bos-frontalis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mithun-bos-frontalis\/","title":{"rendered":"Mithun (Bos frontalis)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>News:<\/strong> Researchers have identified a distinct mithun population in the Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh, proposed as the Siangmi breed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">About Mithun (Bos frontalis)<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 298px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/MITHUN-GRAPHIC.jpg.jpg?fit=717%2C1536&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mithun (Bos frontalis)\" width=\"298\" height=\"639\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Indian Express<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Mithun<\/strong> is a <strong>semi-domesticated bovine species<\/strong> native to the<strong> Eastern Himalayan region.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Scientific name:<\/strong> Their scientific name is<strong> <em>Bos frontalis.<\/em><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>They are also known as <strong>gayal and \u2018cattle of the mountain\u2019.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Origin:<\/strong> They are <strong>believed to have originated more than 8000 years ago.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>They are also considered to be a<strong> descendent of wild Indian gaur, or bison.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-section-id=\"1s99iqt\" data-start=\"362\" data-end=\"440\"><strong>State animal:<\/strong> They are state animal of both <strong data-start=\"382\" data-end=\"437\">Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Habitat:<\/strong> Their natural habitat is characterized by <strong>dense vegetation, including shrubs, trees, bamboo, and coarse grasses,<\/strong> along with <strong>access to perennial water sources<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Distribution:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong data-start=\"6\" data-end=\"44\">North-Eastern (NE) region of India<\/strong> has the <strong>world\u2019s highest concentration of Mithuns.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Arunachal Pradesh accounts for nearly 70%<\/strong> of India&#8217;s mithun population.<\/li>\n<li>The remaining population is distributed across <strong>Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li data-section-id=\"q0tio5\" data-start=\"162\" data-end=\"277\">They are also found in <strong data-start=\"190\" data-end=\"227\">China and parts of Southeast Asia<\/strong>, including <strong data-start=\"239\" data-end=\"274\">Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Bhutan<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Characteristics features:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Appearance: <\/strong>Their most characteristic feature is its head, which has a <strong>broad, well-developed frontal bone and a flat-shaped face<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>In contrast with the gaur, <strong>they have a smaller body size <\/strong>and a <strong>broader skull, whi<\/strong>ch is why they are also called<strong> \u201cforehead cattle\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The head appears like an <strong>inverted triangle from inforont<\/strong>, with <strong>two horns emerging laterally from either side.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The horns generally range in <strong>colour<\/strong> from <strong>whitish-yellow to dark or salty black<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The head and body are <strong>blackish-brown in both males and females<\/strong>, while the forehead is typically <strong>creamy white or yellowish<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>They have <strong>small, double dewlap<\/strong> and distinctive <strong>white stockings on its legs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong data-start=\"641\" data-end=\"650\">Diet:<\/strong> They mainly feeds on<strong> grasses, leaves, shoots and other vegetation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Social Behaviour:<\/strong> They usually move in <strong>small groups<\/strong>, generally consisting of <strong>one or two males along with several females and calves<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Population status: <\/strong>According to the <strong>20th Livestock Census (2019)<\/strong>, India has nearly <strong>384,000 mithuns<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong data-start=\"705\" data-end=\"720\">Importance:<\/strong> Mithun has major <strong data-start=\"738\" data-end=\"784\">cultural, social and economic significance<\/strong> among several Indigenous communities of Northeast India.\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong data-start=\"447\" data-end=\"467\">Soulung Festival<\/strong>, celebrated annually by the <strong data-start=\"496\" data-end=\"531\">Adi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh<\/strong>, commemorates the traditional belief surrounding the <strong data-start=\"585\" data-end=\"629\">birth and arrival of the Mithun on Earth<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It may be kept as <strong>a symbol of wealth and used in traditional ceremonies and exchanges.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats: <\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Habitat loss<\/li>\n<li>Inbreeding<\/li>\n<li>Crossbreeding with cattle<\/li>\n<li>Excessive slaughter for meat<\/li>\n<li>Food shortages<\/li>\n<li>Diseases<\/li>\n<li>Climate change<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conservation Status:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>IUCN:<\/strong> It is classified as<strong> \u2018Vulnerable&#8217;.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: Researchers have identified a distinct mithun population in the Siang region of Arunachal Pradesh, proposed as the Siangmi breed. About Mithun (Bos frontalis) Mithun is a semi-domesticated bovine species native to the Eastern Himalayan region. Scientific name: Their scientific name is Bos frontalis. They are also known as gayal and \u2018cattle of the mountain\u2019.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mithun-bos-frontalis\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mithun (Bos frontalis)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,12039,11834],"tags":[11872,12172],"class_list":["post-369605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-knolls","category-species-in-news","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-mongabay","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}