Japanese serow: a large animal from the Japanese wilderness and its secrets (9 photos)

Does this animal really have 4 eyes? A Chernobyl mutation or is the neural network acting up again? No, my friends! The photo is real, and the animal is in perfect order. Meet the Japanese serow or kamoshika - a favorite of photographers and the largest endemic species of Japan.





*sing* Ooooh, a four-eyed goa ... With them, serows contemplate all the beauty of the three Japanese islands: Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. And the two lower ones are not eyes at all, but special organs of ungulates - preorbital glands. They secrete a secretion with a specific sweet and sour smell and are needed by the animals to mark their own territory. Each serow moves around its 10-15 hectares of forest and periodically rubs its muzzle against branches and bushes. Like, "don't get in - it will kill you." But this is more for intimidation - fights with a fatal outcome do not happen between animals.



The preorbital glands swell especially strongly during the mating season. In normal times, they are almost invisible.

But this does not mean that these tall and fluffy goats are convinced pacifists. They drive everyone off their patch of land except children and potential partners. And they tolerate the latter animals only during the mating season. If it were not for 2 good reasons, the serow would quickly descend to bloody showdowns.





My horns are short, but sharp. Don't make any sudden movements and just leave my land, okay?

The first of them: it is not accepted in the family. The closest relatives of the serow - musk oxen and Far Eastern gorals do not go further than clarifying the position in the hierarchy and mating fights. Yes, Japanese serows have lived on isolated Japanese islands for quite a long time and are completely imbued with local color and are very different from their relatives. But still, the tradition developed tens of millions of years ago has not ceased to be relevant.



No, it is not a fox. No, it is not a raccoon dog. Yes, you are still in the article about the serow.

Another reason not to terrorize your own kind is the low birth rate. Animals reach sexual maturity at an average age of 2.5 years. Surprisingly late for an animal weighing 40 kilograms. As if that weren't enough, a female adds no more than 1 young to the population per year. And they can also skip mating seasons!



Small, cute, fluffy. Let's make an anime about him!

You can understand them, the females have a huge burden. Their pregnancy is quite long - 8 months. The babies need to be raised and fed for 2 years. And daddy goes off for cigarettes, not even waiting for the first signs of pregnancy. If they had also engaged in mortal combat, the species would have collapsed on its own, without the participation of predators or humans.



— All men are goats. — And we are goats, Natasha, why are you saying the obvious?

However, the species almost died out anyway. Just 70 years ago, it was almost impossible to meet a serow in its homeland. The once large population of ungulates has decreased to a critically low mark of 2,000 individuals. All because of excessive hunting. The meat and skins of the kamoshik were highly valued by local residents, so countless animals were hunted. It's good that the government and animal rights activists raised the alarm in time and banned the shooting of animals.



What, you want to shoot? Tell that to my lawyer, he's in the bushes next to you.

But now the kamoshiks are in a superposition. On the one hand, they are still a protected species, have acquired the status of a national symbol and are carefully protected by the state. On the other hand, the serow drives farmers in some prefectures crazy.

The ungulates prefer to feed on fleshy leaves and acorns, but in their absence they will not disdain any green stuff. For example, seedlings of fruit trees or plants from the nearest garden. And the Japanese wolf, the main and most effective regulator of the goat population, has become extinct. Another large predator, the black bear, cannot cope with this task. At the moment, the number of ungulates fluctuates around 100 thousand individuals.



We came to eat all your bonsai.

Therefore, the government both limits the shooting of animals and allows farmers to carry out preventive cleanups of the surrounding area from overly impudent ungulates. But they are not doing so well. Even today, ungulates sometimes come to villages and the outskirts of the city, as if they are not at all afraid of people.