{"id":205,"date":"2014-01-21T05:53:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T05:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tibetnature.lhasocialwork.com\/en\/?p=205"},"modified":"2014-02-21T06:01:57","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T06:01:57","slug":"mainland-serow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/mainland-serow\/","title":{"rendered":"MAINLAND SEROW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Capricornis (or Nemorhaedus) sumatraensis<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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

The Mainland, or Asiatic, Serow is one of the three species of serows. Serows are the most generalized representatives of the bovid subfamily of\u00a0goat antelopes called Caprinae, all of which probably evolved from a serow-like ancestor. The Mainland Serow\u2019s coarse, somewhat long fur is\u00a0coloured reddish chestnut to black.<\/p>\n

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

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

Most Mainland serows also have a white or pale yellow neck patch and several lighter-coloured patches on\u00a0their limbs. The Mainland Serow has a short beard, and a thick mane that extends down the length of its back from the back of its neck to its\u00a0tail.<\/p>\n

The Mainland Serow has short, conical horns that are ridged at the base and slope backwards. The horns of female serows are shorter than the\u00a0horns of males, which measure, at most, 28 centimetres (11 inches) in length. The Mainland Serow\u2019s narrow, pointed, mule-like ears are usually\u00a0longer than its horns.<\/p>\n

The Serow has a short body and long legs. The length of the Serow\u2019s body is 140 to 180 centimetres (55 to 71 inches)\u00a0and the length of the Serow\u2019s tail is 8 to 16 centimetres (3.1 to 6.3 inches). The Serow stands about a meter (3.3 feet) tall at the shoulder, and\u00a0weighs from 85 and 140 kilograms (187 to 309 pounds).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

The Mainland Serow inhabits forests and wooded gorges in the mountains, at elevations from 2,000 to 3,330 metres (6,000 to 10,000 feet),\u00a0as well as grassland and shrubland, at lower altitudes. The Serow\u2019s habitat range extends north from the Himalayas of Nepal to China\u2019s Gansu\u00a0and Anhui provinces, and across South East Asia, as far south as the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

The Serow is a ruminant. As is the case with other ungulates, or hoofed mammals, the Serow cannot manipulate food with its forelimbs. Instead,\u00a0the Serow\u2019s lips, teeth, and tongue are modified to take food directly from a plant and to grind vegetation like a mill. The Serow is a selective\u00a0browser, eating grasses, herbs, and the leaves, shoots, and twigs of trees and shrubs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

The Serow is most active at dawn and dusk. During the heat of the day, the Serow takes shelter among the rocks, in caves, under overhanging\u00a0rocks or cliffs, or in dense underbrush. The Serow is not as agile as the Goral, nor does it move as quickly, but the Serow is sure-footed,\u00a0clambering easily along well-defined trails on mountain slopes. Furthermore, the Serow\u2019s smell, vision, and hearing are acute. The Serow is also\u00a0a good swimmer.<\/p>\n

The Serow is usually solitary, especially the male; however, serows are sometimes found in pairs or family groups consisting of up to seven\u00a0individuals. A solitary serow\u2019s territory may measure only about 12,000 square metres (three acres) in area, while the territory of a family group\u00a0may measure up to 220,000 square metres (54 acres) in area. Serows mark their territories by rubbing a secretion from their preorbital glands\u00a0on rocks.<\/p>\n

The Serow mates in late autumn. The gestation period of the Serow is about 200 to 230 days. Serow mothers give birth in the summer, each\u00a0to a single kid weighing about 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds). The Serow kid reaches full size and leaves its mother\u2019s territory one year after birth. The\u00a0<\/span>Serow reaches sexual maturity at approximately three years old. The Serow\u2019s life span in the wild is unknown, but Serow in zoos have lived for\u00a0over 10 years. The Serow\u2019s natural predators include bears, tigers, and wolves. The Serow may use its horns to defend itself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

The Mainland Serow is categorized as Vulnerable in the 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is listed under Appendix I of CITES.\u00a0The Serow is under second class protection in China and is included in Schedule II, Part I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972.<\/p>\n

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

The main threat to the Serow\u2019s survival is habitat loss. The Serow\u2019s habitat has been lost as a result of logging and the conversion of forest into\u00a0cropland and pastureland. The Serow is also hunted, for food, as game, and to obtain its body parts for sale. The Serow\u2019s body parts are used in\u00a0traditional medicine; serow oil supposedly has bone and joint healing properties. Additionally, the Serow is sometimes trapped in snares set for\u00a0other animals.<\/p>\n

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

America Zoo, Mainland serow, http:\/\/www.americazoo.com\/goto\/index\/mammals\/415.htm, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

Caprinae Specialist Group, 1996: Capricornis sumatraensis, In: IUCN, 2003: 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http:\/\/<\/p>\n

www.redlist.org, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

PBS, The Living Edens: Bhutan \u2013 Animal Archive \u2013 Serow, http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/edens\/bhutan\/a_serow.htm, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

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

rare_or_extinct_08.html, Aug 2004.<\/p>\n

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

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

Capricornis (or Nemorhaedus) sumatraensis Physical Description The Mainland, or Asiatic, Serow is one of the three species of serows. Serows are the most generalized representatives of the bovid subfamily of\u00a0goat antelopes called Caprinae, all of…<\/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-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mammals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205","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=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}