“Japanese Serow” Four-Eyed Goats Were Found In Miyagi, Japan

Japanese serows are little goat-antelopes endemic to Japan.

Their hair is whitish around the neck and on the body may be black, black with a dorsal white patch, dark brown, or whitish; the coat lightens in summer.

The hair is thick and bushy, especially on the tail. Both sexes have small, backward-curving horns that are difficult to tell apart at a glance.

Japanese serows are endemic to three of Japan’s four main islands: northern and central Honshu, as well as tiny portions of Shikoku and Kyushu.

These creatures may be found in both open grassland and woodlands, however, they prefer temperate deciduous forests.

However, they can also be found in broad-leaved or subalpine coniferous forests composed of Japanese beech, Japanese oak, alpine meadow, and coniferous plantations.

Japanese serows are frequently found singly, in couples, or in tiny family groups. They are active throughout the day and sleep in caves at night.

These creatures are sedentary and territorial, and mark trees with sweet-sour-smelling preorbital gland secretions to designate their territory.

Males and females develop distinct, overlapping regions, with male territories often larger than female territories.

Aggression between serows is uncommon, although territorial infractions may result in animosity.

Japanese serows are quick-footed mountain dwellers who can dash up mountains and jump from cliff to cliff for safety.

Hunters even have likened the agility of these animals to the ninja. Japanese serows are herbivorous (eat leaves).

They graze largely on fleshy or coniferousleaves, plant shoots, and acorns. Alder, sedge, Japanese witch-hazel, and Japanese cedar are also part of their diet.

Japanese serows are monogamous, which implies that a mated pair stays together and raises their young every year. Breeding occurs once per year, between September and January.

The male Japanese serow kisses the female’s lips and hits her on the hind legs with his forelegs in a courting ritual mimicking that of goats or gazelles, and both sexes exhibit Flehmen reactions.

During flehmening, the animal folds its top lip back, revealing its front teeth, inhales with the nostrils normally closed, and then frequently retains this posture for several seconds.

After a gestationperiod of roughly 210-220 days, a single child is normally delivered between June and August.

The child stays with his or her mother for a year or two. It then progressively wanders away from its mother’s area until it creates its own territory.

If the young do not disperse on their own, the mother may chase them away.

Females achieve reproductive maturity at 30 months of age, and the first breeding occurs between the ages of 2.5 and 3 years.

Japanese serows were reduced to near extinction in the mid-twentieth century.

To protect Japanese serows from ᴘᴏᴀᴄʜᴇʀs, the Japanese government proclaimed them a “Special Natural Monument” in 1955.

Populations began to increase, and post-World War II monoculture conifer plantations established suitable conditions for the animal.

Foresters have expressed worry that expanding serow populations have hampered postwar mountainside regeneration efforts since the animal feeds on seedlings of commercially important species such as Japanese cypress, Japanese cedar, and Japanese red pine.

Serows have Harmed agricultural harvests in mountain villages, and residents have resisted environmentalists’ efforts.

In certain places of Japan, serow Damage to woods has been described as criminal or martial: the media has referred to the problems as ningen to shika no sens (“the battle between people and deer”) and kamoshika sens (“serow war”).

Currently, the Sika deer population has been expanding in Japan in recent years, and forest undergrowth has been reduced by grazing and browsing, and interspecific competition with Sika deer may have an impact on the serow population.