The Serow 



found only on the south side of the valley, in the Pir 

 Panjal range, and it does not cross the Jhelam into the 

 Kaj-nag range. It occurs in Chamba, probably on the 

 south side of the Chinab in Pangi, and certainly in 

 Kulu and Nepal, as well as in the interior of Sikhim. 

 As noticed above, it probably passes into the Sumatran 

 race somewhere in the neighbourhood of Darjiling, 



Serow share with tahr the notoriety of frequenting 

 the very worst ground the Himalaya can show ; and 

 only those who have had practical experience can realise 

 how bad this can be. Not only will a serow go across 

 an almost perpendicular face of rock as easily as if it 

 were horizontal, but it has a habit of choosing ground 

 covered with slate-debris, on which progress is most 

 difficult to the sportsman. A solitary animal, nowhere 

 abundant, it is never found far away from wood, and 

 often takes up its abode in thick forest, or scrub-jungle ; 

 the description known as ringal-jungle, which is mainly 

 formed by a long thin reed-like bamboo, being an 

 especial favourite in the Eastern Himalaya. Good 

 accounts of its habits are given by General A. A. 

 Kinloch in his Large Game Shootiyig in Thibet and the 

 North-JVest^ as well as by General D. Macintyre in the 

 volume entitled The Hindu-Koh. 



From these accounts it appears that serow are in the 

 habit of spending most of the day concealed among the 

 gloomy recesses of the wooded precipitous gorges which 

 form their favourite haunts, from which they usually 

 issue to feed in the evening and early morning, and 

 even then wander but short distances from their head- 

 quarters. Shyness seems to be one of the most 

 characteristic traits of this animal, although when 

 attacked or brought to bay, none displays greater 

 boldness. As an illustration of this. General Macintyre 

 states that when the follower of an English sportsman 

 was proceeding to secure the body of a female serow 

 that had been shot by his master, the male suddenly 

 rushed out from some dense covert in which it had 



145 L 



