Little is known of its biology and ecology, the only significant work being that of Wharton (1957). The species travels in small herds, primarily of females and calves, of up to 20 animals, which commonly associate with Banteng. Mature males form bachelor herds. The Kouprey is reported to have a diet of grasses, sedges, and some browse (Wharton 1957).

The Kouprey was primarily an animal of open deciduous dipterocarp forests, especially those areas with extensive grasslands. Although deciduous dipterocarp forests are extensive in Cambodia, and also in parts of adjoining countries (especially Lao PDR and Viet Nam), the preferred sites of Kouprey are much more localised, and perhaps account for less than 30% of the total area of the lowland mosaic forests dominated by deciduous dipterocarp forest (Timmins and Ou 2001, Tordoff et al. 2005, AWCSG 2011). The species appeared to use patches of mixed deciduous and semi-evergreen forest which also occur in such landscapes. Most of the Kouprey's range lies in a highly seasonal area receiving less than 2,000 mm of precipitation per annum. The terrain in this area is generally flat or undulating lowlands. The presence of pools and mineral licks was certainly important.

The historical distribution of this species was Cambodia, southern Lao PDR, southeast Thailand, and western Viet Nam (Grubb 2005). However, there is no recent (post-1970) confirmation in any of these countries and because of the obvious major declines in all congeners in this region in this period, this species is now thought to be possibly extinct.

This species is listed in CITES Appendix I, and is legally protected in all range states. If the species is still extant it is most likely to be in eastern Cambodia in one of four protected areas (Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary, Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, Mondulkiri Protection Forest and or Siema Biodiversity Conservation Area) (Timmins and Ou 2001, R.J. Timmins pers. comm. 2008, AWCSG 2011). There are no Kouprey in captivity, one existed in Vincennes Zoo, Paris, in 1937 and survived for about five years. There have been suggestions that domesticated Kouprey may survive in Cambodia (Hassanin et al. 2006). However this seems unlikely (R.J. Timmins pers. comm. 2008) and  recent analysis of several nuclear genes revealed that a domesticated specimen was a hybrid between female Kouprey and male Bos taurus (Handschuh and Hassanin 2013). 

It is unlikely that specific survey work for Kouprey would produce any better evidence than has already been documented, and the best conservation measures for the species now would be to concentrate on in situ protection activities for large mammal communities in eastern Cambodia, especially building upon and strengthening the existing projects within the Srepok Wilderness Area of the Mondulkiri Protection Forest and the Siema Biodiversity Conservation Area (AWCSG 2011).