Himalayan gorals

The „Himalayan goral“ is actually two species which inhabit almost the entire west-to-east extension of the Himalayas. They occur as a westerly and an easterly form.

Names / Taxonomy

Chinese: 斑羚 [wikipedia]

English common name: Himalayan Goral

French: Goral de Himalaya [1]

German: Himalaya Goral [1]

Kashmiri: ghooral, rome [1]

Russian: гималайский горал [1]

Sikkim Bhotia: ra giyu [1]

Spanish: Goral del Himalaya [1]

It has long been debated whether the Himalayan Goral should be classified as one species Nemorhaedus goral with two subspecies Nemorhaedus goral bedfordi and Nemorhaedus goral goral [1, 2] or as two species Nemorhaedus bedfordi and Nemorhaedus goral. [3, 4, 5].

Hrabina (2015) presented detailed descriptions of pelage features of all the extant taxa, including the Himalayan Gorals, and defined determination features, which help to identify the species. He writes: „The most significant differences can be seen in the winter coat, where the Himalayan Grey Goral remains quite light in colour, while the East Himalayan species conspicuously darkens. Other differences can be found in the presence of or absence of dark stripes on the head and body, and also in the character of the tail colouring. These characters are so conclusive that it is virtually impossible to confuse them.“

Hrabina (2015) also suggests a name change for the two Himalayan Goral species: Formerly the scientific name of the Western Himalayan Goral was Nemorhaedus bedfordi or Nemorhaedus goral bedfordi respectively, and the name for the Eastern Himalayan Goral was Nemorhaedus goral or Nemorhaedus goral goral respectively. According to Hrabina the name Nemorhaedus goral should be borne by the Western Himalayan Goral species, while the Eastern Himalayan species should be referred to as Nemorhaedus hodgsoni.

The reason that led Hrabina (2015) to change the names of the Himalayan Gorals follow the rules of taxonomy. Hrabina (pers. comm.) explains:

„All scientific names are fixed on type specimens defined by scientists who have described the species in their original work. The localities of origin of these specimens are called type localities. The following names are available for the Himalayan species:

N. bedfordi – locality type: Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India
N. goral – locality type: Kathmandu, Central Nepal
N. hodgsoni – locality type: Sikkim, India

Groves and Grubb (2011) delimited the distribution boundary between those species by the Sutlej River (Himachal Pradesh). Westward of this river, according to this hypothesis, lives the Himalayan Gray Goral, eastwards lives the Himalayan Brown Goral. From this point of view, in the area of ​​the Himalayan Gray Goral lies only Dharamshala – the type locality of bedfordi. The names N. goral and N. hodgsoni then fall within the distribution limit of ​​the Himalayan Brown Goral.

On the contrary, I conclude that the boundary between the two species lies east of Kathmandu. The specimens from Kathmandu are typical representatives of the Himalayan Gray Goral. In this regard, individuals from Dharamshala and Kathmandu fall within the range of the grey species. The name N. goral has priority over the name bedfordi, it becomes a junior synonym of the species N. goral. For this reason the name hodgsoni with the type locality in Sikkim must be applied for the Himalayan Brown Goral.“ (For this topic see also next entry.)

Distribution

by country: Buthan, China (Xizang), India, Nepal, Pakistan

It has been a subject of debate, where to set the distribution boundary between the Himalayan Goral species: Wilson and Mittermeier (2011) and Groves and Grubb (2011) state that Sutlej River (in Himachal Pradesh, Northwest India) is the probable distributional boundary between the Himalyan Brown Goral and the Himalayan Gray Goral. [3, 4] However Johnsingh has documented Himalayan Gray Goral from Rajaji NP, Uttarakhand [1], which is about 180 kilometers east of the Sutlej water gap. Ward (1925) placed the boundary between the gray and brown gorals again further east, at roughly the Sarday River [5] – the western boundary of India and Nepal. And Damm and Franco (2014) assume that the gray and brown phenotypes are intergrading in cetral Nepal. [1] This assumption could be based on Pocock (1910), who wrote that both gray and brown goral occur in Nepal, but Groves and Grubb (2011) see no evidence for this. [4] Eventually Hrabina (2015) could unveil that both species indeed integrate in Nepal, east of Kathmandu [8].

The discussion about the distribution boundaries of the Himalayan Brown Goral and the Red Goral, which inhabits the far eastern spurs of the Himalayas, has hardly started yet. [1]

General discription

Measurements for Himalayan Gray Goral were not available. But it can be assumed that body and horn measurements of the Himalayan Gray Goral are in general similar to the Himalayan Brown Goral. [3]

length / head-body: 82-120 cm [3]

weight: 35-42 kg [1, 3]

horn length (males): 15-23,5 cm [3]

Colouration / pelage

Body colour of Himalayan Gray Goral: often grayish, ranging from gray-brown to yellowish-gray [3]

Body colour of Himalayan Brown Goral: medium brown with black tipped hairs, or gray-brown to pale or dark fawn [4] or golden or rufous brown specked with black and gray [1].

Groves and Grubb (2011) write: „The evidence of the museum skins, which are of both sexes and from different seasons, does indicate a consistent difference between West (mainly Kashmir) and East Himalayan Goral. … Their taxonomic seperation depends on pelage characters …, which is consistent in our material.“ [4] Eventually Hrabina (2015) clarifies the differences (see Table 1). [8]

Table 1: Identification features in pelage colour and patterns among the Himalayan gorals (adapted from Hrabina, 2015)

	Himalayan Gray Goral	Himalayan Brown Goral
summer coat – colour	light reddish grey-brown	light brown
winter coat – colour	almost identical to the summer coat, paler grey tones – giving an overall lighter appearance	dark brown to black, noticeably darker compared to summer coat
white throat patch	large – from lower lip to half the length of the neck	small – from half the length of the interramal (line between back-end of mandibles) to one third of the neck
white throat patch laterally extends onto cheeks	yes	no
colour of chin	always white	brown often with black patch; less frequently cream without black patch
dark nasal stripe	prominent, rarely absent	absent
auricle (outer ear): white patch at the base	prominent	absent
dark nape stripe	typycally absent	prominent
dark dorsal stripe	absent	prominent
thoracic limbs (front legs): dark stripe on dorsal area (front side)	prominent – from radiocarpal joints down to the fetlocks, rarely absent, dark stripes on the thoracic limbs always more dominant	variable – from elbows or radiocarpal joints down to the fetlocks, often in segments
pelvic limbs (hind legs): dark stripe on the plantar area (sole)	absent or in segments	prominent – often extends all the way from thighs to fetlocks, dark stripes on the pelvic limbs always more dominant
tail colour	the same as the body, only dark tip	all black

Some examples

Is there a Spatial cline in Himalayan goral pelage colour?

As a matter of fact precipitation changes alongside the Himalayas. One can observe that during July the West is considerably drier compared to the East, which in turn affects plant communities.

Following behind one finds a catalogue with photos of Himalayan goral from various regions. You could get the impression that pelage colours of gorals becoming lighter/grayer as you move westward and darker/browner as you move eastward. More research is needed to proof this hypothesis. Note: The photos are not taken under consistent conditions, hence the colours are only partly comparable.  Furthermore: It is not known if the specimens from the mentioned zoos are from the respective regions.

Horns

Both sexes in Himalayan goral have short, pointed slightly curving horns 13 to 18 cm long. The horns show small, irregular serregations. The horns of the Brown Himalayan Goral are straighter and less heavily serrated than those of the gray form. Furthermore the Himalayan Brown Goral appears to have on average somewhat shorter horns, although an exeptional specimen from Bhutan had a horn length of 18,7 cm. [1]

Habitat

Both Himalayan goral species are said to occur in similar habitat types. [3] But there are differences. Himalayan Gray Goral in Pakistan occur in plant communities, including scattered pine and thorny shrub habitats, whereas the Himalayan Brown Goral live in wooded mountains with a fairly dense cover [3]. Hence consequences regarding the ecology of the two goral species are obvious.

Food and feeding

Over 90 percent of winter and summer diet of the Himalayan Brown Goral is grass, whereas the annual diet of Himalayan Grey Goral consists only of 63 percent grass. [3] The difference could be due to climatic reasons and the abundance of grass.

Breeding

Territoriality: Male Himalayan Gray Gorals are no doubt territorial like the Himalayan Brown Goral. [3]

Mating: Himalayan Brown Gorals mate in October-November, Himalayan Gray Gorals in November-December. [3]

Sexual maturity: Himalayan Brown Gorals reach sexual maturity in 3 years [5], Himalayan Gray Gorals in 2-3 years [3].

Gestation: in both species about 180 days [3]

Parturition: from April to May [3] in both species

Young per birth: single offspring are the norm, twinning is rare in both species [3]

Conservation status / threats

There is no estimate of the total population size. In India and Nepal the Himalayan Brown Goral seems to occur in relatively good numbers, but in China numbers of this species are thought to be small. It appears that more than 1000 individuals of the Himalayan Gray Goral live in Pakistan, extending into adjacent areas in India. [1] Both species are classified as Near Threatend on the IUCN Red List. Illegal subsistence hunting, habitat destruction and fragmentation are major threats to the Himalayan Brown Goral. [3] In China, poaching is probably the main threat, however poaching in Tibet is thought to be limited due to prevailing religious beliefs. [1] On the other hand in Pakistan the „natural attachment with guns“ of the islamic local people „plays a great role to deteriorate the wildlife“. [7] In the Himalayan Gray Goral many populations are small and fragmented. Widespread habitat alteration and disturbance, primarily illegal hunting and livestock grazing, are major threats. [3]

Literature Cited

[1] Damm, Gerhard R. and Franco, Nicolás, 2014: The CIC Caprinae Atlas of the World – CIC International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, Budakeszi, Hungary in cooperation with Rowland Ward Publications RSA (Pty) Ltd., Johannesburg, South Africa.

[2] Duckworth, J.W. & MacKinnon, J. 2008. Naemorhedus goral. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T14296A4430073. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T14296A4430073.en. Downloaded on 16 January 2017.

[3] Wilson, D.E. and Mittermeier, R.A. [eds], 2011: Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 2. Hoofed Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

[4] Groves, Colin and Grubb, Peter, 2011: Ungulate Taxonomy. The John Hopkins University Press.

[5] Castelló, José R., 2016: Bovids of the World – Antelopes, Gazelles, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, and Relatives. Princton University Press.

[6] https://skepticalscience.com/In_Search_Of_Himalayan_Ice_Loss.html

[7] Perveen, Farzana; Anzela Khan, and Adnan Hussain Shah: „Hunting and Trapping Pressures on the Himalayan Goral, Naemorhedus Goral (Hardwicke) (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) in Kohistan, Pakistan.“ American Journal of Zoological Research 1, no. 1 (2013): 5-11.

[8] Hrabina, Petr: „A new insight into the taxonomy and zoogeography of recent species of goral (Nemorhaedus, Bovidae, Ruminantia)„, Gazella 42, 2015, Zoo Praha