page_title: Japanese serow
section_title: Hunting and conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese serow / Relationship with humans / Hunting and conservation
caption_attribution_description: 中白根山付近より北岳と仙丈ヶ岳
context_page_description: The Japanese serow: is a Japanese goat-antelope, an even-toed ungulate mammal. It is found in dense woodland in Japan, primarily in northern and central Honshu. The animal is seen as a national symbol of Japan and is subject to protection in conservation areas.
  Adult Japanese serow stand about 81 centimetres tall and weigh 30–45 kilograms. They are black to whitish, and colouring lightens in summer. The fur is very bushy, especially the tail. Both sexes have short, backwards-curving horns, and are difficult to distinguish by sight. Japanese serow are found in dense mountain forests where they eat leaves, shoots, and acorns. They are diurnal and feed in early mornings and late afternoons. Serows are solitary, or gather in couples or small family groups. The animal marks its territory with sweet-and-sour-smelling preorbital gland secretions, and males and females have separate territories that may overlap.
  In the mid-20th century, the Japanese serow was hunted to near-extinction. In 1955, the Japanese government passed a law designating it a "Special National Monument" to protect it from poachers.
context_section_description: The serow has long been hunted in Japan, especially in northern Japan where, along with bear-hunting, serow-hunting was strongly associated with matagi culture. Throughout Japan's mountainous regions, the serow has been a valued catch. Its various body parts are used without waste. Prized in particular is its meat—until the mid-20th century, serow meat was so widely eaten in these regions the animal itself was known as "meat". Its waterproof hides were used for rafters' backflaps, its horns were ground as a preventive against diseases such as beriberi, and a cure for stomach-aches was made from the serow's small intestines and gall bladder.
  An animal that once inhabited deep forests far from populated areas, the Japanese serow has increasingly penetrated the outskirts of villages. In western Honshū, it had become extinct by the 20th century. Elsewhere, it had been hunted to such a severe degree that the Japanese government declared it a "Non-Game Species" in a 1925 hunting law. In 1934, the Law for Protection of Cultural Properties designated it a "Natural Monument Species".
  Poaching continued, leading the government to declare the Japanese serow a "Special Natural Monument" in 1955, at which point overhunting had brought its numbers to 2000–3000. Populations grew as the police put an end to poaching, and post-War monoculture conifer plantations created favourable environments for the animal. By the 1980s, population estimates had grown to up to 100,000 and serow range had reached 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi). Between 1978 and 2003, its distribution increased 170%, and the population had stabilized.
  Conflicts with agriculture and forestry led to a 1978 repeal of the full protection the animal received under the 1955 designation. Thenceforth, 13 designated protection areas were established over 23 prefectures. They cover about 20% of the serow range, have a total area of 11,800 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi), and range in size from 143 square kilometres (55 sq mi) to 2,180 square kilometres (840 sq mi). Culling removed 20,000 serows outside of conservation areas between 1978 and 2005.
  The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals ranked the Japanese serow as "least concern" in 2008, as it has wide distribution in Japan, and a large, stable or increasing population. The Law for Protection of Cultural Properties and Wildlife Protection and Hunting Law provide for the legal management of the Japanese serow. In 1979, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Environmental Agency, and Forestry Agency reached an agreement on serow management measures, such as the establishment of protection areas and culling as pest control. The measures were met with resistance from conservationists, naturalist organizations, and some biologists, as the animal had previously been fully protected. A 1999 amendment to the Wildlife Protection and Hunting Law allowed prefectures to manage wildlife populations; by 2007, seven plans had been established for serow management outside of conservation areas.
  Foresters have raised concerns that the rising serow populations have interfered with post-War mountainside reforestation efforts, as the animal feeds on the saplings of Japanese cypress, Japanese cedar, and Japanese red pine, species with commercial significance. Serow have caused damage to farm crops in mountain villages, and the villagers have objected to conservationists' efforts. Damage by serows to forests has been characterized in parts of Japan in criminal or martial terms: the media have referred to the problems as ningen to shika no sensō ("the war between humans and deer") and kamoshika sensō ("serow war").
  Frustration with the government and conservationists led 400 foresters to launch a lawsuit in the 1980s over serow damage to timber plantations. Foresters in Gifu Prefecture have justified the shooting of serows in the legs, as such shooting would not be fatal. Estimating accurate population numbers has been difficult. Foresters see the serow as a harmful animal, and resent government interference in controlling serow-hunting. They have a
caption: Conservation areas such as Minami Alps National Park provide a safe home for C. crispus.
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