Persecution and Hunting Meat Hunting: Page 1 Today, much of the
Kouprey's habitat has become a battleground for bands of
guerrillas who have planted land mines throughout the region and
hunt and snare wildlife for food. After the Vietnam War and the
Khmer Rouge occupation of Cambodia, Kouprey were only seen
rarely (Stewart-Cox 1995). A 1986 survey found fragmented, small
populations remaining in most of its range (Nowak 1999). A few
Kouprey were seen in the 1980s trying to migrate through the
steep escarpment separating Cambodia and northeast Thailand, but
they apparently died in booby-traps set for people (McNeely and
Sochaczewski 1988). The skull and horns of a female Kouprey were
offered for sale in a shop in Poipet, Cambodia, in 1994 for
$400, according to biologists surveying illegal trade in the
country (Martin and Phipps 1996). The Kouprey has little chance
of surviving without protection from hunting unless a large
sanctuary is set aside for it. No strong conservation measures
have been taken to date.