VOL.205 JULY 2025
EXPO 2025 OSAKA, KANSAI, JAPAN: THE CHARM OF KANSAI [Native Creatures of Japan] Japanese Serow

The Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) is called kamoshika in Japanese. Although the name contains the word shika (deer), the animal is actually a member of the subfamily Caprinae, which includes goats and antelopes. It is around 1m to 1.2 m in body length and weighs 30kg to 45 kg, about the size of a young cow. Both sexes have two short, unbranched horns, and a variety of fur color that ranges from black-brown to gray-brown to white-gray. It lives on rocky mountain and steep forest slopes, and likes to eat plants and bamboo grass. The Japanese serow has a four-chambered stomach and ruminates by returning swallowed food to the mouth and rechewing it like cows, and it is often seen  resting in the shade of the trees after eating. Since it used to be a game animal, its numbers had decreased sharply to the point it was called a “phantom animal.” In response, it was designated as a National Natural Monument Species¹ in 1934 and as a National Special Natural Monument² in 1955, and the nation as a whole has come together to protect it. The Japanese serow appears on a 50-yen definitive stamp in Japan.

• 1. A designation for the protection and preservation of animals, plants, and geological and mineralogical features of high scientific value and the areas where they are found.
• 2. A natural monument (see 1.) that is also designated by the Cultural Properties Protection Law as having exceptional global or national value, and is more thoroughly protected and preserved.

Photo: Japan Post Co., Ltd.; PIXTA

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