A baby gaur has been rescued from a poacher’s trap in Battambang and is recovering at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Takeo, officials said yesterday.

Concerned villagers found the wild animal caught in a trap made of string at the foot of a mountain in a forest in Rokhakiri district’s Basak commune.

District Governor Pich Malai, who originally misidentified the animal as an endangered banteng, said despite authorities educating people about hunting wildlife, some still continued to lay traps. “Fortunately, we found it in time, or else it might be slaughtered already. At the time, the hunter was not seen,” Malai said.

The forest, he said, apart from being home to the “vulnerable” species of gaur, also hosts peacocks, red deer and banteng.

Prey Svay Forestry Administration chief You Panhavoan said the gaur was trapped by its hind leg and had sustained superficial scratches but no serious injuries.

Panhavoan said he did not know for how long the gaur was trapped, but said it was kept in Basak commune for a night before it was transported to Takeo yesterday.

Nhek Rattanakpich, director of the Phnom Tamao zoo and rescue centre, identified the animal as a 1-year-old gaur, and said veterinarians were tending to its swollen leg and diarrhoea possibly caused by heat and fear of people.