Endangered and misnamed ‘demon of the forest’ born at zoo

When you hear “demon of the forest” you probably don’t think of adorable, tiny cattle.

But that’s exactly what the label refers to — the smallest species of wild cattle in the world, anoa. It’s a miniature water buffalo, that at its maximum size reaches about a meter in height.

The Chester Zoo in the United Kingdom now has a baby demon of the forest, born on June 1. The new Islands exhibits at the zoo aims to help threatened species native to Southeast Asia.

“Looking at our latest arrival, it’s impossible to see how anyone could harm anoas or label them ‘demonic,’” Tim Rowlands, the zoo’s curator of mammals, said in a statement. “They’re a beautiful, shy and secretive animal that are misunderstood and often overlooked.”

Anoas are extremely rare, with only 2,500 mature anoas left. They are only found in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, where they have been over-hunted for their meat and lost their habitat.

The new calf’s mother is named Oana and is 5 years old.

Farmers on that island are responsible for the demon misnomer, wrongly believing the anoas leave the forest at night to puncture other cattle with their horns.

“Not only are they suffering from loss of their forest habitat, which is being chopped down to make way for agricultural land, they are also hunted for their meat,” Rowlands said. “Anoas are also sometimes mistakenly killed by farmers who hold them responsible for puncturing their cattle at night. All of this is sadly contributing to an uncertain future for the species.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 8:40 AM with the headline "Endangered and misnamed ‘demon of the forest’ born at zoo."