Researchers in Cambodia discover rare, endangered southern serow
Thursday, 08 Jul 2021
7:08 PM MYT

A Southern Serow caught on automatic camera in one of Cambodia’s protected areas on April 1. - Phnom Penh Post/ANN

CAMBODIA (The Phnom Penh Post/ANN): Researchers from the Ministry of Environment have detected the Southern Serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) in protected areas by capturing it image on automatic cameras. The animal is a rare species and is listed on the IUCN Red List as globally endangered.

The species is listed in Annex 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Neth Pheaktra, spokesman for the environment ministry, said on July 7 that researchers discovered the Southern Serow, also known as Sumatran Serow, while collecting data on rare species in Cambodia.

“This rare animal is noted for its presence in protected areas in Cambodia, which provide important data for biodiversity conservation in the country as well as for the whole world, ” he said.

Pheaktra said researchers do not have exact data on the animal’s numbers in Cambodia, adding that it has a low animal density number due to its rarity.

“Southern Serows are currently facing extinction due to poaching and habitat loss, ” he said.

“What makes the animal so endangered is because it is hunted for meat, horns and bones for trafficking and religious purposes.”

According to a study by the ministry, the animal is black-gray and has long, thin hair. It has a short body and four long legs. The upper part of the body is black and the lower part of the legs from the knees down is black, gray, and yellow. From the top of the head to the shoulders is a mane.

The Southern Serow has black horns like a goat, slightly curved backwards, about 280mm long, and a circular bend at the base. The tail is short with thick black and gray hairs.
https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/as ... hern-serow

Do they still have a pair of Serow at Phnom Tamao?
The male particularly was the most magnificent beast. HE used to pose as king of his kingdom from up on his small rock-outcrop 'mountain'.
That was close to the fence so you were looking up them. The image that stays with me is of pure power. A dark, almost black, oversized mountain ram on steroids. But with a hint of deer to soften them also.

magnificent magnificent magnificent - that is the word that has alllways come to mind. I would murder an elephant to watch one of these climbing wild over the misty peak of a forested mountain here.
(unlikely, from my coastal canoe)