Nemorhaedus caudatus
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Artiodactyla
Bovidae
Nemorhaedus
Nemorhaedus caudatus

description: 218.
Long-tailed Goral
Nemorhaedus caudatus
French: Goral a longue queue / German: Nordchina-Goral / Spanish: Goral colilargo
Other common names: Chinese Goral, Manchurian Long-tailed Goral
Taxonomy. Antilope caudata Milne-Edwards, 1867,
Russia (Amurland).
Previously classified as a subspecies of N. goral. N. c. raddeanus is a synonym. Analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene indicates that Long-tailed Goral populations in Korea may be genetically distinct from populations in China. The generic name was originally spelled Naemorhedus, but the spelling Nemorhaedus, despite being an unjustified emendation, is “in prevailing” usage and is used here. Monotypic.
Distribution. Russian Far East, NE China (Nei Mongol and Hebei E to Heilongjiang), and Korean Peninsula; apparently W to extreme SE Mongolia.
Descriptive notes. Head—body 109-132 cm (males) and 106-135 cm (females), tail 14— 18 cm (males) and 13-17 cm (females) but 37-48 cm to tip oftail hairs, shoulder height 69-75 cm, ear 11.5-15 cm; weight 26-47 kg (males) and 24-45 kg (females). Horn length ¢.15-18 cm, up to 23-5 cm (males), horn basal girth ¢.7-10 cm (males). Body color of the Long-tailed Goral is brown;legs are creamy to yellow-gray, with dark line on front of foreleg; and the dorsal stripe is usually inconspicuous. Underside pale, groin and axillae white, throat white extending forward to chin, and tail usually black and appears long and bushy due to length oftail hairs. Diploid chromosome numberis 56.
Habitat. The Long-tailed Goral occupies precipitous terrain with cliff component at elevations of 80-2000 m. In Russia, they occur in seashore cliffs, usually at 100-300 m, and in inland montane areas of mixed pine forests and oak woodlands at 300-800 m. They use slopes of 45-90° and can tolerate snow cover up to 35 cm. Major predators are Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) and Eurasian Lynxes (Lynx lynx).
Food and Feeding. In Russia, diet of the Long-tailed Goral varies seasonally, butis primarily graminoids (77-82% seasonally). Browse dominates the diet only in summer but can constitute up to 40% in winter. Gorals dig through snow to feed and spend 72-82% oftheir total active time feeding.
Breeding. Both sexes attain sexual maturity at 1-5 years, but males first participate in the rut at 2.5 years. Estrus lasts 15-30 hours. After a gestation of 210 days, a single offspring, rarely twins, is born. Kids are able to follow mother at 3—4 days. Longevity in captivity 1s up to 18 years but in the wild they rarely live more than twelve years. Only young males disperse.
Activity patterns. The Long-tailed Goral is diurnal or nocturnal, usually feeding at night. They have 4-5 feeding periods from 05:00 h to 21:00 h.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Movements have not been studied in detail. Males occupy 22-55 ha and mark vegetation in home ranges with the postcornual gland, a gland behind the base of the horn. Groups consisted of two females with young; 2-5 animals less than three years old; an adult male and 1-3 subadult males; or mixed groups (at least one adult male and female and various individuals of both sexes) of up to 16 animals.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. Long-tailed Gorals occur in fragmented populations. In the early 1900s, the estimated population of the Long-tailed Goral was 2000 individuals in Russia. By 1980, it was reduced to no more than 550. In South Korea, fewer than 300 remain. Illegal hunting can be a major cause of adult mortality. Enforcement of game laws is a priority. There is need to expand and increase protected areas, prevent range deterioration by livestock, and limit human intrusions in goral habitats.
Bibliography. Allen (1940), Baskin & Danell (2003), Bromley & Kucherenko (1983), Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1966), Groves & Grubb (1985, 2011), Grubb (2005), Heptner et al. (1988), Lovari (1997), MacKinnon (2008), Min et al. (2004), Myslenkov & Voloshina (1989), Soma & Kada (1984), Soma et al. (1987), Wang Sung et al. (1997), Weinberg et al. (1997), Won (1997).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2011, Bovidae, pp. 444-779 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 2 Hoofed Mammals, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 701, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6512484