Japan's Natural History: Japanese Serow The Japanese Serow:
Wraith of the Forest It comes as a considerable surprise to
visitors to Japan to find that the country is home to quite a
number of large animals. Among more than 100 species of mammals
native to Japan, there are even two species of bears, a monkey,
a large deer, and a rather strange creature, rarely heard of
outside Japan, known as the Kamoshika or Japanese Serow. This
extraordinary beast roams the mountains of Japan from the
northernmost part of Honshu, the Shimokita Peninsula, to the
mountains of eastern Kyushu. This primitive herbivore is found
only here, making it a Japanese endemic species. The Kamoshika
has been protected as a natural monument since 1934, and as a
special natural monument since 1955. As if it were in a medieval
European bestiary, Kamoshika, has been variously described, and
rather unflatteringly I feel, as a cross between a cow, a
donkey, a pig and a goat! Such a poor description does scant
justice to this extraordinary creatu