2022 Volume 62 Issue 1 Pages 55-59
The Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) has well-developed preorbital glands and rubs them frequently on leaves, tree trunks, and twigs. To clarify the function of such behavior, we examined monthly changes in scent-marking frequency by direct observation of serow behavior in a 100-ha study area in the Shimokita Peninsula, northern Japan, on 435 days between July 1979 and August 1986. The author has previously investigated scent-marking frequency according to season and found that adult males scent-mark more frequently than adult females. Both sexes scent-mark throughout the year, with higher frequencies in the autumn rutting season and lower frequencies in winter; however, juveniles rarely marked. The present results, considered alongside unpublished data, confirmed these findings and showed that the frequency of such marking by adult males was 2.5 times higher than that by adult females. Furthermore, the present study revealed that 1) the frequency of marking by both sexes was higher not only in autumn but also in spring; 2) the increased frequency of scent-marking in autumn was more conspicuous for adult males than for adult females; 3) both sexes showed the lowest marking frequency in February; and 4) kids aged ten months exhibited marking behavior for the first time in March.
