The Serow Capricornis sumatraensis

With its large head, donkey like ears, thick neck and short limbs the Serow is an ungainly creature. Both sexes are similar in built, The coat is coarse and rather in Serow which live at lower elevations. Its color varies so much that it is difficult to describe. It ranges from grizzled black or blackish grey roan to red in the darker animals the head, the neck, and the mane, which covers the nape and withers, are grizzled black. The black passes into rusty red on the shoulders, flanks, lower thighs and turns a dirty grey in the inside of the limbs and belly. There is varying amount of white on the muzzle, throat and chest. Horns are common to both sexes. They are black, conical and closely wrinkled for three-quarters of their length.

Height at the shoulder of the male is 100-110cm, and weighs over 90 Kgs. The length of the horns is 25 to 25 Cms and is 13 to 15 Cm in girth. The Serow favors an elevation between 1850 to 3050 Mts. Serow lives in the recesses of thickly wooded georges whose bolder strewn slopes and shallow caves give shelter from the weather. They feed in the morning and evening on the rank herbage of the more open slopes. They are more or less solitary creatures, though 4 to 5 may be seen feeding on the same hill. They are exceedingly active animals. Not only on rock but also on flat ground. When disturbed they dash away with a hissing snort. Their call is a whistling scream.
The female usually has one kid at a birth sometimes two. In the Himalayas the young ones are born in May and June. The Gestation period is said to be about 7 months.

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