Grey Goral

Grey Goral, also known as the Himalayan Goral, has two subspecies and is a typical forest-dwelling mammal.

Female and juvenile Himalayan Gorals cover an area of 40 hectares. Solitary males cover an area of 22-25 hectares. They rely on vision and hearing to perceive the surrounding environment. Acute vision enables them to see predators while resting or grazing. These animals use a range of snorts, whistles, and sneezes to indicate alertness to other members of the group. Like most other mammals, their sense of smell is also very important. The species is very agile and can easily traverse the difficult landscape of the Himalayas. They make small seasonal altitude migrations; in the colder months, they move to lower altitudes to live and return to higher altitudes in the warmer months. Their dark gray fur allows them to blend in with the surrounding hillsides when they stay and move during the day. Agility in rugged terrain also helps them avoid predators and predators.

The Himalayan Goral is a diurnal animal. It is particularly good at climbing rocks and is most active in the early morning and evening, but can still be active on cloudy days. It lives in groups, with females and young antelopes generally moving in small groups of a few or more than 10, and their range of activities does not exceed the upper limit of the tree line. But adult males are solitary and like to move alone, living alone until the breeding season. In winter, they mostly bask in the sun on sunny rocky slopes, in summer they rest in the shade of trees or under cliffs, and in other seasons they often stay on isolated peaks and cliffs. They are most active and forage in the morning and evening, and during the day they rest in places with a wide view and not far from the feeding place, usually within a fixed range. They are very good at jumping and climbing, running between cliffs and deep valleys in the mountains as if walking on flat ground, and they are safe even if they jump into a deep ravine more than 10 meters high. They have extremely sensitive vision and hearing, and their calls are like sheep. When frightened, they often shake their ears, stomp the ground with their hooves, making a "bang, bang" sound, and a sharp "hush, hush" sound from their mouths. If danger is approaching, they will run away quickly.

The Himalayan goral is a herbivore, and its diet varies throughout the year due to changes in the environment. From early spring to May, it mainly feeds on mosses in the forest. In summer, it feeds on leaves and young branches of herbs such as sheep grass and wormwood, and shrubs such as Lespedeza. In winter, it feeds on dry grass and young branches of trees, mosses and lichens. When snow covers all available food sources, they will lift their noses to push the snow away instead of digging or scratching with their hooves. Its herbivores are diverse, including grass leaves, buds, roots, branches, lichens, fungi, leaves, fruits and nuts. After eating, they go to valley streams to drink water.

The Himalayan goral is polygamous. During the breeding season, the dominant male has the right to mate with all females within its range. This dominance is established through threatening performances and fighting with other males. When Himalayan gorals fight, males butt their horns or stand on their hind legs and fight with their front legs to compete for females. They try to stab their opponents' flanks with their small dagger-like horns instead of butting heads. Males stretch low, curl their lips, spray urine and lift their tails when courting females.

Himalayan gorals mate in November-December, so young are born in spring and early summer when vegetation is abundant. Females give birth to one young each breeding season. The gestation period is about 6-8 months, after which females give birth alone and after several days of hiding. The young follow their mother until weaning, and then join the mother's group and remain there until sexual maturity. Young are weaned 4-5 months after birth and reach sexual maturity at 2-3 years old.

The main threats to the survival of the Himalayan goral come from habitat destruction, hunting, and possible competition with livestock. In China, hunting is probably the main threat to its survival. However, the extent is unknown. This may be limited by the dominant religious beliefs of the Tibetan people, which reduces hunting activities. In Bhutan, although some parts of the range are in reasonable condition, in other areas, its habitat is being destroyed by overgrazing by livestock, and in the former Doga National Park area, the environment is damaged by wildfires during the dry season. In protected areas of India, the status of the Himalayan goral population is satisfactory. However, even in many protected areas, they are often hunted for meat. The greatest threat to them is severe habitat disturbance and change, especially in the lower Himalayas and northeastern India. However, limited disturbance and habitat modification that creates or maintains some shrub and forest cover may not greatly harm the survival of the Himalayan goral population. In Nepal, threats are poaching and habitat destruction caused by logging, agriculture and livestock grazing.

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2008 ver 3.1 - Near Threatened (NT).

Listed in Appendix I of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Listed in Appendix II of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Listed in the first level of the List of Key Protected Wildlife in China.

Protect wild animals and stop eating game.

Maintaining ecological balance is everyone's responsibility!

Existing: Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan.
Uncertain existence: Myanmar.
Inhabits steep mountainous areas, mostly in higher mountain forests in remote counties, especially on rocky cliffs that are difficult for other animals and humans to climb, and also on mountaintops with gentle slopes on one side and steep cliffs on the other. Sometimes inhabits evergreen forests near cliffs, but mainly stays in rugged rocky areas, hiding in forests or rock crevices. Seeks shelter under rock overhangs. Often appears on steep cliffs in dense forests, and hides beside cliff rocks, in caves or on paths between bamboo groves. Prefers sunny places in autumn and winter, and often inhabits under forests in summer.

The head and body length of the Himalayan goral is 100-120 cm, the shoulder height is 59 cm, the tail length is 80-150 cm, the hind foot length is 24-27.5 cm, and the total skull length is 19.6-21.4 cm. The weight is 35-42 kg. The body size is like a goat, but without a beard. The eyes are large and protrude to the left and right, there is no infraorbital gland, and the ears are long. Both males and females have short, straight black horns, which are relatively short and small, 15-20 cm long, and the longest record is 23.2 cm. The bases of the horns are very close, only 1-2 cm apart, and they tilt upward and backward after growing out of the frontal bone, and the horn tips are slightly curved downward and backward. The horn tips are sharp and smooth, and the rest of the parts have more than 10 transverse ridges, the number of which is related to age. There are shallow and thin longitudinal grooves between the transverse ridges, but the transverse ridges are not cut. The horns of female