Data from: Mapping threatened Thai bovids provides opportunities for improved conservation outcomes in Asia

Wild bovids provide important ecosystem functions throughout their ranges.
Five wild bovids remain in Thailand: gaur (Bos gaurus), banteng (Bos
javanicus), wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee), mainland serow
(Capricornis sumatraensis) and Chinese goral (Naemorhedus griseus).
However, their populations and habitats have declined substantially and
become fragmented. Here, we identify potentially suitable habitat for
these threatened bovids using ecological niche models and quantify how
much suitable area remains within protected areas. We combined species
occurrence data with environmental variables and used spatially-restricted
Biotic-Abiotic-Mobility frameworks with species-specific and single large
accessible areas. We used ensembles from eight algorithms for generating
maps and out-of-sample predictions to validate model performance against
new data. Gaur, banteng, and buffalo models performed well throughout the
entire distribution (≥62%) and in Thailand (≥80%). Mainland serow and
Chinese goral performed poorly for the entire distribution and in
Thailand, though a 5 km movement buffer markedly improved model
performance for serow. Particularly large suitable areas were in Thailand
and India for gaur, Cambodia and Thailand for banteng, and India for
buffalo. Over 50% of overall suitable habitat is located outside protected
areas, with just 9% for buffalo in Thai protected areas, highlighting area
for potential habitat management and conflict mitigation.