In Cambodia, gaur declined considerably in the period from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. The most substantial population of the country remained in Mondulkiri Province, where up to 1000 individuals may have survived in a forested landscape of over . Results of camera trapping carried out in 2009 suggested a globally significant population of gaur in the Mondulkiri Protected Forest and the contiguous Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary. In Laos, up to 200 individuals were estimated to inhabit protected area boundaries in the mid–1990s. They were reported discontinuously distributed in low numbers. Overhunting had reduced the population, and survivors occurred mainly in remote sites. Fewer than six National Biodiversity Conservation Areas held more than 50 individuals. Areas with populations likely to be nationally important included the Nam Theun catchment and the adjoining plateau. Subsequent surveys carried out a decade later using fairly intensive camera trapping did not record any gaur any more, indicating a massive decline of the population. In China, gaur occur in heavily fragmented populations in Yunnan and southeastern Tibet. By the 1980s, they were extirpated in Lancang County, and the remaining animals were split into two populations, viz. in Xishuangbanna–Simao and Cangyuan. In the mid-1990s, a population of 600–800 individuals may have lived in Yunnan Province, with the majority occurring in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. Where gaur have not been disturbed, they are basically diurnal. In other areas, they have become largely nocturnal due to forest molestation caused by humans. In central India, they are most active at night, and are rarely seen in the open after 8 o'clock in the morning. During the dry season, herds congregate and remain in small areas, dispersing into the hills with the arrival of the monsoon. While gaur depend on water for drinking, they do not seem to bathe or wallow. In January and February, gaur live in small herds of eight to 11 individuals, one of which is a bull. In April or May, more bulls may join the herd for mating, and individual bulls may move from herd to herd, each mating with many cows. In May or June, they leave the herd and may form herds of bulls only or live alone. Herds wander each day. Each herd has a nonexclusive home range, and sometimes herds may join in groups of 50 or more. Gaur herds are led by an old adult female, the matriarch.