📸 PhotoPhoto: Licheng Shih · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Formosan Serow
Capricornis swinhoei (Formosan Serow · 台湾鬣羚)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its weight of 21 kg is nearly equal to one 20 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 Its shoulder height of 60 cm is lower than a standard dining table (about 70 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Thanks to online videos and photos, its tree-climbing behavior has been documented in a scientific paper.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Formosan serow is a small wild bovid living in the forests of Taiwan, favoring steep slopes and rocky cliffs.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
A small ungulate weighing about 21 kg, it is known to stand about 60 cm at the shoulder with horns about 9 cm long. Males and females are nearly the same size.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
A 2024 paper reported video and photographic evidence of this serow climbing trees to feed on leaves and lichens. Each recorded observation involved a single individual at a time.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2008) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3810/10096148
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1006193
- • iucnredlist.org — 10096148
- • wikidata.org — Q715983
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Capricornis swinhoei 206048818.jpg
- • pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — PMC11310938
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Tracy A. Heath · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Bos bison)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.