GORALS AND SEROWS
Gorals and serows belong to the subfamily _Rupicaprinæ_ which is an
early mountain-living offshoot of the _Bovidæ_; it also includes the
chamois, takin, and the so-called Rocky Mountain goat of America.
The animals are commonly referred to as "goat-antelopes" in order to
express the intermediate position which they apparently hold between
the goats and antelopes. They are also sometimes called the Rupicaprine
antelopes from the scientific name of the chamois (_Rupicapra_).
The horns of all members of the group are finely ridged, subcylindrical
and are present in both sexes, being almost as long in the female as
in the male. Although no one would suspect that the gorals are more
closely related to the takins than to the serows, which they resemble
superficially, such seems to be the case, but the cranial differences
between the two genera are to a certain extent bridged over by the
skull of the small Japanese serow (_Capricornulus crispus_). This
species is most interesting because of its intermediate position. In
size it is larger than a goral but smaller than a serow; its long coat
and its horns resemble those of a goral but it has the face gland and
short tail of a serow. It is found in Japan, Manchuria and southern
Siberia.
The principal external difference between the gorals and serows,
besides that of size, is in the fact that the serows have a short tail
and a well developed face gland, which opens in front of the eyes by a
small orifice, while the gorals have a long tail and no such gland.
[Illustration: A Serow Killed on the Snow Mountain]
[Illustration: The Head of a Serow]
In the cylindrical form of their horns the serows are similar to some
of the antelopes but in their clumsy build, heavy limbs and stout
hoofs as well as in habits they resemble goats. The serow has a long,
melancholy-looking face and because of its enormous ears the Chinese in
Fukien Province refer to it as the "wild donkey" but in Yün-nan it is
called "wild cow."
The specific relationships of the serows are by no means satisfactorily
determined. Mr. Pocock, Superintendent of the London Zoölogical
Society's Gardens, has recently devoted considerable study to the
serows of British India and considers them all to be races of the
single species _Capricornis sumatrensis_. With this opinion I am
inclined to agree, although I have not yet had sufficient time in which
to thoroughly study the subject in the light of our new material.
These animals differ most strikingly in external coloration, and fall
into three groups all of which partake more or less of the characters
of each other. Chinese serows usually have the lower legs rusty red,
while in Indian races they are whitish, and black in the southern Burma
and Malayan forms.
The serows which we killed upon the Snow Mountain can probably be
referred to _Capricornis sumatrensis milne-edwardsi_, those of
Fukien obtained by Mr. Caldwell represent the white-maned serow
_Capricornis sumatrensis argyrochætes_ and one which I shot in May,
1917, near Teng-yueh, not far from the Burma frontier, is apparently an
undescribed form.
Our specimens have brought out the fact that a remarkable individual
variation exists in the color of the legs of these animals; this
character was considered to be of diagnostic value, and probably is
in some degree, but it is by no means as reliable as it was formerly
supposed to be.
Two of the serows killed on the Snow Mountain have the lower legs rusty
red, while in two others these parts are buff colored. The animals,
all males of nearly the same age, were taken on the same mountain,
and virtually at the same time. Their skulls exhibit no important
differences and there is no reason to believe that they represent
anything but an extreme individual variation.
The two specimens obtained by Mr. Caldwell at Yen-ping are even
more surprising. The old female is coal black, but the young male
is distinctly brownish-black with a chestnut stripe from the mane
to the tail along the mid-dorsal line where the hairs of the back
form a ridge. The horns of the female are nearly parallel for half
their extent and approach each other at the tips; their surfaces
are remarkably smooth. The horns of the young male diverge like a V
from the skull and are very heavily ridged. The latter character is
undoubtedly due to youth.
These serows are an excellent example of the necessity for collecting
a large number of specimens from the same locality. Only by this means
is it possible to learn how the species is affected by age, sex and
individual variation and what are its really important characters.
In the case of the gorals, our Expedition obtained at Hui-yao such a
splendid series of all ages that we have an unequaled opportunity for
intelligent study. Serows are entirely Asian and found in China, Japan,
India, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
On the Snow Mountain we found them living singly at altitudes of from
9,000 to 13,000 feet in dense spruce forests, among the cliffs. The
animals seemed to be fond of sleeping under overhanging rocks, and we
were constantly finding beds which gave evidence of very extensive use.
Apparently serows seldom come out into the open, but feed on leaves and
grass while in the thickest cover, so that it is almost impossible to
kill them without the aid of dogs or beaters.
Sometimes a serow will lead the dogs for three or four miles, and
eventually lose them or it may turn at bay and fight the pack after
only a short chase; a large serow is almost certain to kill several of
the hounds if in a favorable position with a rock wall at its back. The
animal can use its strong curved horns with deadly effect for it is
remarkably agile for a beast of its size.
In Fukien we hunted serows on the summit of a high mountain clothed
with a dense jungle of dwarf bamboo. It was in quite different country
from that which the animals inhabit in Yün-nan for although the cover
was exceedingly thick it was without such high cliffs and there were
extensive grassy meadows. We did not see any serows in Fukien because
of the ignorance of our beaters, although the trails were cut by fresh
tracks. The natives said that in late September the animals could often
be found in the forests of the lower mountain slopes when they came to
browse upon the new grown mushrooms.
Mr. Caldwell purchased for us in the market the skin of a splendid
female serow and a short time later obtained a young male. The latter
was seen swimming across the river just below the city wall and was
caught alive by the natives. The female weighed three hundred and ten
pounds and the male two hundred and ninety pounds.
Serows are rare in captivity and are said to be rather dangerous pets
unless tamed when very young. We are reproducing a photograph taken and
kindly loaned by Mr. Herbert Lang, of one formerly living in the Berlin
Zoölogical Garden; we saw a serow in the Zoölogical Park at Calcutta
and one from Darjeeling is owned by the London Zoölogical Society.
Gorals are pretty little animals of the size of the chamois. The
species which we killed on the Snow Mountain can probably be referred
to _Næmorhedus griseus_, but I have not yet had an opportunity to study
our specimens carefully. Unlike the serows these gorals have blackish
brown tails which from the roots to the end of the hairs measure about
10 inches in length. The horns of both sexes are prominently ridged for
the basal half of their length and perfectly smooth distally. The male
horns are strongly recurved and are thick and round at the base but
narrow rapidly to the tips; the female horns are straighter and more
slender. The longest horns in the series which we received measured six
inches in length and three and three-quarters inches in circumference
at the base. Like the serows, gorals are confined to Asia and are found
in northern India, Burma, and China, and northwards through Korea and
southern Manchuria.
We hunted gorals with dogs on the Snow Mountain for in this particular
region they could be killed in no other way. There was so much cover,
even at altitudes of from 12,000 to 15,000 feet and the rocks were so
precipitous, that a man might spend a month "still hunting" and never
see a goral. They are vicious fighters, and often back up to a cliff
where they can keep the dogs at a distance. One of our best hounds
while hunting alone, brought a goral to bay and was found dead next day
by the hunters with its side ripped open.
On the Snow Mountain we found the animals singly but at Hui-yao, not
far from the Burma frontier, where we hunted another species in the
spring, they were almost universally in herds of from six to seven or
eight. It was at the latter place that we had our best opportunity to
observe gorals and learn something of their habits. We were camping on
the banks of a branch of the Shweli River, which had cut a narrow gorge
for itself; on one side this was seven or eight hundred feet deep. A
herd of about fifty gorals had been living for many years on one of
the mountain sides not far from the village, and although they were
seen constantly the natives had no weapons with which to kill them; but
with our high-power rifles it was possible to shoot across the river at
distances of from two hundred to four hundred yards.
We could scan every inch of the hillside through our field glasses and
watch the gorals as they moved about quite unconscious of our presence.
At this place they were feeding almost exclusively upon the leaves of
low bushes and the new grass which had sprung up where the slopes had
been partly burned over. We found them browsing from daylight until
about nine o'clock, and from four in the afternoon until dark. They
would move slowly among the bushes, picking off the new leaves, and
usually about the middle of the morning would choose a place where the
sun beat in warmly upon the rocks, and go to sleep.
Strangely enough they did not lie down on their sides, as do many
hoofed animals, but doubled their forelegs under them, stretched their
necks and hind legs straight out, and rested on their bellies. It was a
most uncomfortable looking attitude, and the first time I saw an animal
resting thus I thought it had been wounded, but both Mr. Heller and
myself saw them repeatedly at other times, and realized that this was
their natural position when asleep.
When frightened, like our own mountain sheep or goats, they would run a
short distance and stop to look back. This was usually their undoing,
for they offered excellent targets as they stood silhouetted against
the sky. They were very difficult to see when lying down among the
rocks, but our native hunters, who had most extraordinary eyesight,
often would discover them when it was almost impossible for me to find
them even with the field glasses. We never could be sure that there
were no gorals on a mountain-side, for they were adepts at hiding,
and made use of a bunch of grass or the smallest crevice in a rock to
conceal themselves, and did it so completely that they seemed to have
vanished from the earth.
Like all sheep and goats, they could climb about where it seemed
impossible for any animal to move. I have seen a goral run down the
face of a cliff which appeared to be almost perpendicular, and where
the dogs dared not venture. As the animal landed on a projecting rock
it would bounce off as though made of rubber, and leap eight or ten
feet to a narrow ledge which did not seem large enough to support a
rabbit.
The ability to travel down such precipitous cliffs is largely due to
the animal's foot structure. Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn has
investigated this matter in the mountain goat and as his remarks apply
almost equally well to the goral, I cannot do better than quote them
here:
The horny part of the foot surrounds only the extreme front.
Behind this crescentic horn is a shallow concavity which gives the
horny hoof a chance to get its hold. Both the main digits and the
dewclaws terminate in black, rubber-like, rounded and expanded
soles, which are of great service in securing a firm footing on
the shelving rocks and narrow ledges on which the animal travels
with such ease. This sole, Smith states, softens in the spring of
the year, when the snow is leaving the ground, a fresh layer of
the integument taking its place. The rubber-like balls with which
the dewclaws are provided are by no means useless; they project
back below the horny part of the hoof, and Mr. Smith has actually
observed the young captive goats supporting themselves solely on
their dewclaws on the edge of a roof. It is probable that they are
similarly used on the rocks and precipices, since on a very narrow
ledge they would serve favorably to alter the center of gravity by
enabling the limb to be extended somewhat farther forward.[3]
[Footnote 3: "Mountain Goat Hunting with the Camera," by Henry
Fairfield Osborn. Reprinted from the tenth _Annual Report of the New
York Zoölogical Society_, 1906, pp. 18-14.]
There were certain trails leading over the hill slopes at Hui-yao which
the gorals must have used continually, judging by the way in which
these were worn. We also found much sign beneath overhanging rocks and
on projecting ledges to indicate that these were definite resorts for
numbers of the animals. Many which we saw were young or of varying ages
running with the herds, and it was interesting to see how perfectly
they had mastered the art of self-concealment even when hardly a year
old. Although at Hui-yao almost all were on the east side of the
river, they did not seem to be especially averse to water, and several
times I watched wounded animals swim across the stream.
Gorals are splendid game animals, for the plucky little brutes inspire
the sportsman with admiration, besides leading him over peaks which try
his nerve to the utmost, and I number among the happiest hours of my
life the wonderful hunts in Yün-nan, far above the clouds, at the edge
of the snow.