{"id":192,"date":"2014-01-21T05:15:12","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T05:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tibetnature.lhasocialwork.com\/en\/?p=192"},"modified":"2014-02-21T05:30:23","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T05:30:23","slug":"goral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/goral\/","title":{"rendered":"GORAL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naemorhedus spp<\/em><\/p>\n

Physical Description<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Goral is the smallest member of the Rupicaprini tribe of goat antelopes, which also includes the Serow, the North American mountain goat,\u00a0and the European chamois. There are three Goral species: Naemorhedus baileyi, the Red Goral; Naemorhedus goral, the Himalayan Goral; and\u00a0Naemorhedus caudatus, the Long-tailed or Chinese Goral. At least two of the three Goral species occur in Tibet.<\/p>\n

\"Goral\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: www.surfbirds.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Goral has a short, woolly undercoat covered with long, coarse outer fur. The Goral\u2019s colouration varies across the animal\u2019s habitat range and\u00a0between the three species.<\/p>\n

The color of the Goral\u2019s coat ranges from grizzled grey to dark, reddish brown, with a light throat patch, legs that\u00a0lighten toward the hooves, and a dark stripe down the spine. Male gorals have a short mane and tend to be darker than female gorals. The Longtailed\u00a0Goral has a dark, bushy tail. The Goral\u2019s coat thickens and grows shaggy in the winter.<\/p>\n

Unlike the Serow, which has a flat face, the Goral has a curved face, with a separate nasal bone and eyes set close together. The Goral\u2019s large ears\u00a0measure from ten to 14 centimetres (3.9 to 5.5 inches) in length. Both male and female gorals have short, sharply pointed horns that curve\u00a0backwards.<\/p>\n

The horns have small, irregular ridges and grow to a length of 13 to 18 centimetres (five to seven inches). The horns of Goral males\u00a0are longer, more divergent, and are thicker at the base than the horns of females. Additionally, the ridges on the males\u2019 horns of males are more\u00a0prominent than the ridges on the females\u2019 horns.<\/p>\n

The Goral has long, strong limbs and broad, heavy hooves that are well adapted for climbing and jumping. The Goral\u2019s back is slightly arched.<\/p>\n

The Goral is about half the size of the Serow. Adult Goral males weigh between 28 and 42 kilograms (62 to 93 pounds), while females weigh\u00a0between 22 and 35 kilograms (49 to 77 pounds). The height of an adult goral, taken at the shoulder, ranges from about 50 to 80 centimetres\u00a0(20 to 32 inches). The Goral\u2019s body length measures approximately 80 to 130 centimetres (32 to 51 inches), and the Goral\u2019s tail measures about\u00a0seven to 20 centimetres (2.8 to 8 inches) long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Habitat<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Goral inhabits open, sparsely vegetated, and forested mountains at elevations from about 1,000 to 4,000 metres (3,300 to 13,500 feet).<\/p>\n

In areas where the Goral and the Serow share habitat, the Goral is found on rockier, more barren slopes than the Serow. The Red Goral\u00a0principally occurs in southeast Tibet. The Dongqiu Nature Reserve was established in Nyingtri specifically for the animal\u2019s preservation. The\u00a0Red Goral is also found in northern Burma (Myanmar), Assam State in India, and Yunnan province in China. There is a subspecies of the Red\u00a0Goral called the Tibetan Red Goral (Naemorhedus baileyi baileyi). The Himalayan Goral occurs in the Himalaya Mountains, in northern\u00a0Pakistan, northern India, southern Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. The Long-tailed Goral is found in Far Eastern Russia, China, Korea, eastern\u00a0Burma (Myanmar), Laos, northwestern Thailand, and possibly in northeastern India (Nagaland and Assam).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eating Habits<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Goral is a ruminant. It can take up to four days for the Goral to completely digest its food. In the spring and summer, the Goral grazes\u00a0mostly on grasses, occasionally supplementing its diet with the shoots of certain shrubs and trees. In the fall and winter, the Goral generally\u00a0switches to eating bamboo, the leaves and twigs of trees and shrubs, and\/or nuts, including acorns. The Goral has also been spotted grouping\u00a0around trees in which monkeys are feeding and eating fallen leaves, flower, and fruits. The Goral visits salt licks to obtain necessary minerals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behaviour and Reproduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Goral descends to lower elevations in the winter. The Goral tends to be most active early in the morning and in the late evening. The Goral\u00a0usually spends the middle of the day resting, under the cover of vegetation or on a rocky ledge, but when it is overcast, the Goral may be active\u00a0throughout the day. Gorals make trails through their habitat and use these frequently.<\/p>\n

Female gorals and their offspring, including male gorals that have not yet reached adulthood, form small herds of two to 12 individuals. Adult\u00a0males are solitary for most of the year, associating with females only during the breeding season. A herd\u2019s territory generally encompasses\u00a0approximately 0.4 square kilometres (100 acres). During the mating season, adult males occupy and mark territories of about 0.2 square\u00a0kilometres (22 to 25 hectares). Unlike other herding animals, gorals rely more heavily on their acute eyesight than on their sense of smell or\u00a0hearing.<\/p>\n

The Goral reaches sexual maturity between two and three years of age. The timing of the mating season varies across the Goral\u2019s habitat range,\u00a0but generally occurs between September and December. The Goral\u2019s gestation period lasts 170 to 218 days, after which females give birth to\u00a0one, or, occasionally, to two kids. Kids are able to stand after just one hour and begin following their mothers on their second day. Kids are\u00a0weaned at seven to eight months of age.<\/p>\n

The life span of the Goral, in the wild, is approximately eight to 15 years. One captive goral lived as long as 17 years and seven months. The\u00a0Goral\u2019s natural predators include leopards, lynx, tigers, wolves, wild dogs, and martens. The Goral is a shy animal. The Goral\u2019s coat provides\u00a0excellent camouflage for the Goral in its natural habitat, so the Goral\u2019s first reaction when confronted by potential danger is to freeze, in hopes\u00a0of being overlooked. If the Goral does happen to be spotted, it emits a hissing or sneeze-like alarm call and flees. The Goral is capable of moving<\/p>\n

very quickly and agilely across rocky terrain. The Goral generally avoids areas of loose snow, in which it could rapidly become bogged down and\u00a0exhausted, and remains close to rocks and cliffs, up which it can quickly escape from its predators. As a last resort, the Goral may use its horns\u00a0to defend itself and its young.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Present Status<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Red Goral and the Long-tailed Goral are categorized as Vulnerable and the Himalayan Goral is classified as Lower Risk: Near Threatened\u00a0in the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. All three species of Goral are included in Appendix I of CITES. Gorals are under second class\u00a0protection in China and are included in Schedule III of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Threats to Survival<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most severe threat to the Goral\u2019s survival is the loss, degradation, and fragmentation of the Goral\u2019s fragile mountain habitat. Deforestationdue to logging and the \u00a0collection of wood for fuel and agricultural practices including slash and burn have had the harshest effects on the Goral\u2019s\u00a0habitat. The Goral is additionally threatened by hunting. The Goral is hunted for sport, for food, and to obtain its body parts, including its fur,\u00a0which is used in making clothing, and other body parts that are used in traditional medicine. In some areas, gorals are hunted with the help of\u00a0dogs, which frightens and over-excites the Goral such that its heart and lungs become susceptible to injury. The Goral is also threatened, albeit\u00a0to a lesser extent, by natural disasters including avalanches or landslides and temperature extremes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

America Zoo, Common goral, http:\/\/www.americazoo.com\/goto\/index\/mammals\/414.htm, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Caprinae Specialist Group, 1996: Naemorhedus spp. In: IUCN, 2003: 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http:\/\/www.redlist.org,<\/p>\n

Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Conservation International, Biodiversity Hotspots \u2013 Resources, http:\/\/www.biodiversityhotspots.org\/xp\/Hotspots\/resources\/glossary.xml, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Saint Louis Zoo, Central Chinese Goral::Saint Louis Zoo, http:\/\/www.stlzoo.org\/animals\/abouttheanimals\/mammals\/hoofedmammals\/<\/p>\n

centralchinesegoral.htm, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals, Thai Wildlife : Rare or Extinct : Goral (Chinese Goral), http:\/\/www.tscwa.org\/wildlife\/<\/p>\n

rare_or_extinct_09.html, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Huffman, Brent, Gray Goral, http:\/\/www.ultimateungulate.com\/Artiodactyla\/Nemorhaedus_goral.html, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Sathyakumar, S. and Bhatnagar, Y.V., \u201cMountain Ungulates,\u201d Wildlife and Protected Areas, Vol. 1, No. 1, Dec 2002: As a Boy\u2026, http:\/\/<\/p>\n

www.wii.gov.in\/envis\/ungulates\/chapter12.htm, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

Woodland Park Zoo, Animal Fact Sheets, http:\/\/www.zoo.org\/educate\/fact_sheets\/goral\/goral.htm, Oct 2004.<\/p>\n

By: Environment and Development Desk, DIIR, CTA.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naemorhedus spp Physical Description The Goral is the smallest member of the Rupicaprini tribe of goat antelopes, which also includes the Serow, the North American mountain goat,\u00a0and the European chamois. There are three Goral species:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mammals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}