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The Amur or Korean goral (Naemorhedus caudatus raddeanus) is a rare ungulate in the Amur-Heilong basin. The species prefers sunny, southeastern rocky mountain slopes (60 to 80 degree incline) in rocky areas and cliffs, primarily along the coastal zones.
The Amur goral is included in the IUCN Redlist as “Vulnerable”, Russian Red Book, and international trade in the species is restricted by listing in Appendix II of CITES. In Russia, hunting of goral has been prohibited since 1924.
In Russia, goral inhabits coastal areas of the Sea of Japan from Lazovsky to Sikhote-Alinsky Zapovedniks, mostly just outside the Amur River basin. Historic goral range once extended through deciduous oak forests, including the Black Mountains, and the spurs of the Small Hinggan Mountain Range. In China there are several isolated populations of goral in the Small Hinggan and other mountain ranges; however it has not been seen for decades in suitable rocky habitats in the Hinggan straights area of the Amur-Heilong valley.
At the end of the 20th Century, the population of gorals numbered about 2,000 animals in the southern Russian Far East. The population began to decline in the 1920-30s. Today, stable populations in Russia are located only in the protected Sikhote-Alinsky and Lazovsky Zapovedniks. The populations there have been reported to number up to 500. The entire rocky coastline of Primorsky Province, which extends for about 400 km, constitutes potentially suitable habitat for expansion of the Amur goral. Today, the total range of the species in Russia is less than 1,000 square kilometers. The main threats to the goral are poaching and disturbance. Goral derivatives are also used in traditional Oriental medicine. Natural threats include predators, disease, and deep snow cover. At least in one area in China goral disappeared due to tourism development.
Goral on seacoast cliffs (Photo by V.Medvedev)
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