Himalayan serow | |
---|---|
Male Himalayan serow in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, Sikkim, India | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Bovidae |
Subfamily: | Caprinae |
Genus: | Capricornis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | C. s. thar
|
Trinomial name | |
Capricornis sumatraensis thar
Hodgson, 1831
|
The Himalayan serow (Capricornis sumatraensis thar), also known as the thar [a] ( /θɑːr/ THAR, /tɑːr/ TAR), [2] [3] is a subspecies of the mainland serow [4] native to the Himalayas. [1] It was previously considered its own species, as Capricornis thar. It is the official state animal of the Indian state of Mizoram.
In 1831, Brian Houghton Hodgson first described a goat-like animal with short annulated horns occurring in montane regions between the Sutlej and Teesta Rivers under the name "Bubaline Antelope". [5] As "Bubaline" was preoccupied, he gave it the scientific name Antelope thar a few months later. [6] When William Ogilby described the genus Capricornis in 1838, he determined the Himalayan serow as type species of this genus. [7]
The Himalayan serow is mostly blackish, with flanks, hindquarters, and upper legs that are a rusty red; its lower legs are whitish.[ citation needed]
The Himalayan serow inhabits hilly forests above an elevation of 300 m (980 ft), but descends to 100 m (330 ft) in winter. [8] It prefers elevations of 2,500–3,500 m (8,200–11,500 ft) in the Himalayas. [9]
Capricornis sumatraensis is listed in CITES Appendix I. [1]