A RARE banteng born at Chester Zoo has helped boost conservation of the South East Asian species.
The new arrival - named Jasmine by zoo keepers - is a member of a cattle family listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Jasmine, the new-born Banteng calf
The breed's numbers have declined dramatically in the last 50 years due in the main to habitat loss and hunting throughout its native range.
Recent estimates suggest there could be fewer than 5,000 left in the wild.
in a bid to counteract the worsening threat to their survival, Chester Zoo has joined forces with the wider global zoo community, international conservationists and the Indonesian government to support banteng conservation in South East Asia.
The coordinated approach to conservation brings together the skills of top zoos - breeding, animal husbandry, veterinary treatment and education - with those of local experts, conservationists and sanctuaries on the ground.
Jasmine the new-born Banteng calf
Johanna Rode-Margono, the zoo's South East Asia conservation field programme officer who is working on the conservation of Asian wild cattle, said: "Zoos from Europe, America and Indonesia, field conservationists and Indonesian government representatives have, for the first time, joined forces in a global collaboration - working together to share expertise and resources for the conservation of banteng.
"The new-born calf is a very important step towards a sustainable insurance population of the species.”
Jasmine is one of the first mammals to be born in the zoo’s new £40m Islands zone - which showcases threatened species from region of South East Asia - since it opened in summer last year.
Her arrival means the zoo now has a herd of 10 – four males and six females.
Tim Rowlands, curator of mammals at Chester Zoo, added: "By making sure there is a viable global population of banteng in zoos, whose genetic diversity represents the genetic diversity in the wild, the global zoo community can play a key role in the conservation of the species.
"There's no doubt that zoos are now an important piece of the puzzle in the long-term protection of banteng."
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