Japanese serow

Japanese Serow
A Japanese serow in Wakinosawa, Japan
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Caprinae
Genus:	Capricornis
Species:	C. crispus
Binomial name
Capricornis crispus (Temminck, 1836)
Synonyms
Naemorhedus crispus

The Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus or Naemorhedus crispus; Japanese: Nihon kamoshika (ニホンカモシカ)), is a goat-antelope found in dense woodland in Japan, primarily in northern and central Honshū.

Adult Japanese serow stand about 81 centimetres (32 in) and weigh 30–45 kilograms (66–99 lb) They are mottled brown and white and black underneath. Their fur is very bushy, especially the tail. Both sexes have short 10-centimetre (3.9 in) horns, which curve backwards. Japanese serow are found in dense hillside forests where they eat leaves and acorns. They are diurnal, feeding in the mornings and evenings and resting under rock ledges for the remainder of the day. The serow are solitary, or gather in couples, sometimes with kids as well. Generally they live in small ranges, around 20,000 square metres for individuals and up to 200,000 square metres for larger groups. Ranges are marked with a substance similar to vinegar that is secreted from the serow's preorbital gland, which is just in front of the eye.

The Japanese serow was hunted to near-extinction until the Japanese government in 1955 passed laws protecting it from poachers. Populations have grown so greatly that IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals ranks it "Least Concern". Complaints of foresters and farmers led in 1979 to a repeal of the 1955 law, since whichit has had protected status in 13 designated protected areas over 23 prefectures.

Description

Japanese serows

The Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus, sometimes Naemorhedus crispus; Japanese: [kamoshika] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) is a small bovid that stands about 81 centimetres (32 in) and weighs 30–45 kilograms (66–99 lb). It typically has a longer, woolier coat—about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) on the body—and shorter ears than mainland serow. It has a bushy tail and no mane. Its black-to-dark brown coat lightens in summer. Both sexes have short horns, and differences between the sexes are not well developed. It can tolerate colder, snowier climates than mainland serows.

The Japanese serow lives up to 20 years. It feeds on alder, sedge, Japanese witch-hazel (H. japonica), and cedar. It has few predators, as Japanese wolves have become extinct; bears may prey on them. They flee with a whistling snort when they detect danger.

Taxonomy

There is no fossil record of the Japanese serow; its evolutionary history and relation to the Taiwan serow are speculative.

Distribution, ecology, and behavior

Japanese Serow outside of Wakinosawa, Aomori

Capricornis crispus is endemic to three of the four main islands of Japan: primarily northern and central Honshū, and in small areas in Shikoku and Kyūshū. It lives in open grassland and forests at an elevation of about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft); it prefers temperate deciduous forest, but also lives in broad-leaved or subalpine coniferous forest, alpine meadow, and coniferous plantations. Popualation density is low at an average of 2.6 per square kilometre (6.7/sq mi).

The diurnal Japanese serow feeds in early moring and late afteroon, primarily on fleshy or coniferous leaves, plant shoots, and acorns.

The Japanese serow is socially monogamous. First breeding takes place at age 2.5–3 years; breeding occurs once a year. Birth takes place between June and August. In a courtship ritual resembling that of goats or gazelles, the male Japanese serow licks the female's mouth, strikes her on the hindlegs with his forelegs, and rubs her genitalia with his horns. After a gestation period of about 210–220 days birth takes about half an hour, as the female walks about. The single young is 30 centimetres (1 ft) tall and reaches adult height in a year.

Conservation

An animal that once inhabited deep forests far from populated areas, the Japanese serow has increasingly penetrated the outskirts of villages. It had been hunted to such a severe degree that in 1934 the Japanese government declared it a natural monument for its protection. Poaching continued, so in 1955 the government declared the Japanese serow a special natural monument, at which point overhunting had brought its numbers to 2000–3000. Populations grew as the police put an end to poaching, and post-War monoculture conifer plantations created favourable environments for the animal. By the 1980s, populations estimate had grown to up to 100,000 and serow range had reached 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi).Conflicts with agriculture and forestry led to the repeal of the full protection the animal received under the 1955 designation. Thenceforth 13 designated protection areas were established over 23 prefectures. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals ranked the Japanese serow as "Lower Risk" in 1996.

Foresters have raised concerns that the rising serow populations have interfered with post-War mountainside reforestation efforts, as the animal feeds on the saplings of Japanese cypress, Japanese cedar, and Japanese red pine, species with commercial significance. Mountain villagers have objected to conservationists' efforts, and damage by serows to forests has been characterized in parts of Japan in criminal or martial terms: the media have referred to the problems as [ningen to shika no sensō] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ("the war between humans and deer") and [kamoshika sensō] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), ("serow war"). Foresters in Gifu Prefecture have justified the shooting of serows in the legs, as such shooting would not be fatal. Estimating accurate population numbers has been difficult. Foresters see the serow as a harmful animal, and resent government interference in controlling serow-hunting. They have accused the government and wildlife experts of undercounting serows, while conservationists have counteraccused that foresters may inflate population numbers and levels of forestry damage to promote their own interests.

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Conservationists such as Shin Gotō believe that the increased visibility is due not to an absolute increase in populations, but to deforestation which has driven the animal further from its traditional home. Serows close to populated areas may feed on farms and cypress, including saplings. Clearcutting practices may also contribute the problem, as clearcut forests create areas of rapid herbaceous growth ideal for herbivores, who see population increases. The situation is temporary, though, and after regrowth of trees leads to the forest canopy closing over after 15–20 years the herbivore populations are displaced as the herbaceous growth ceases to flourish.

See also

• List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments

References

Works cited

• Burton, Maurice; Burton, Robert, eds. (2002). International Wildlife Encyclopedia. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 2323–2324. ISBN 978-0-7614-7266-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jass, Christopher N.; Mead, Jim I. (15 December 2004). "Capricornis crispus" (pdf). Mammalian Species (750). American Society of Mammalogists: 1–10. Retrieved 2013-07-09.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Kishimoto, Ryosuke (2003). "Social monogamy and social polygyny in a solitary ungulate, the Japanese Serow (Capricornis crispus)". In Reichard, Ulrich H.; Boesch, Christophe (eds.). Monogamy: Mating Strategies and Partnerships in Birds, Humans and Other Mammals. Cambridge University Press. pp. 147–158. ISBN 978-0-521-52577-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Knight, John (2003). Waiting for Wolves in Japan : An Anthropological Study of People-Wildlife Relations: An Anthropological Study of People-Wildlife Relations. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-158864-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Maruyama, N.; Ikeda, H.; Tokida, K. (1997). "9.4 Japan". In Shackleton, David M. (ed.). Wild Sheep and Goats and Their Relatives: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Caprinae. IUCN. pp. 271–274. ISBN 978-2-8317-0353-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Tokida, K. (2008). "Capricornis crispus". IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 09 July 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Kishimoto, R.; Kawamichi, T. (1996). "Territoriality and monogamous pairs in a solitary ungulate, the Japanese serow, Capricornis crispus". Animal Behaviour. 52 (4): 673–682.
• Min, M. S.; Okumura, H.; Jo, D. J.; An, J. H.; Kim, K. S.; Kim, C. B., Shin, N. S.; Lee, M. H.; Han, M. H.; Voloshina, I. V.; Lee, H. (2004). "Molecular phylogenetic status of the Korean goral and Japanese serow based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene". Molecules and Cells (17): 365–372.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Miura, S.; Tokida, K. (1992). "Demographic parameters of Japanese serow population in Japan". In Bobek, B.; Perzanovski, K.; Regelin, W. (eds.). Global Trends in Wildlife Management. Swiat Press. pp. 423–426.
• Natori, Y.; Porter, W. P (2007). "Model Of Japanese Serow (Capricornis crispus) Energetics Predicts Distribution On Honshu, Japan". Ecological Applications (17): 1441–1459.
• Ochiai, K.; Susaki, K. (2002). "Effects of territoriality on population density in the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus)". Journal of Mammalogy (83): 964–972.
• Tokida, K.; Miura, S (1988). "Mortality and life table of a Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) population in Iwate Prefecture, Japan". Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan. 13 (2): 119–126.

External links

• Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
• Images - Flavon's Wild herb and Alpine plants