XLI. GOORAL (Nemorhædus Goral)
Generally, ‘Gooral’ or ‘Ban bakri’; Chumba, ‘Pij’; Cashmere, ‘Nain,’ ‘Norn’
This is quite the most sporting of the minor beasts of the chase. It is pretty generally distributed along the whole of the lower slopes of the Himalayas from the Indus river to the Kachin hills in Burmah; horns of both gooral and serow were found by the Phunkan column in 1889. In Cashmere they are scarce, a few only being found in the Kajnag and Pir Punjal ranges, but from Kishtwar to the south-east they are pretty plentiful, especially in Chumba, Gurwhal, the Sewalik range, and the valleys of the Ganges, Jumna, and Tonse rivers. They seem indifferent to heat, and abound among the hot precipitous cliffs formed by the big rivers cutting their way through the hills, the Tonse seeming to suit their requirements admirably. Wherever a landslip has occurred, wherever there is a steep rocky slope covered with long grass and occasional bushes and pines, there gooral are sure to be found. Higher up the hills, up to about 8,000 ft. above the sea level, they are often seen on the short turf at the tops of the ridges or in the pine forests, but rocks they must have close to, and the more precipitous the cliff the more likely it is to hold them.
Wary as gooral are, they will often live close to villages, and do not mind the presence of flocks with their attendant shepherds, or hillmen cutting wood and grass near their haunts. They seem to trust to the steep broken ground they frequent for protection. Gooral, as a rule, are fairly easy animals to get a shot at, but they present by no means a large target, and are very tenacious of life; a wounded one will often tax the best nerves to follow. Gooral seem to become particularly attached to certain localities, and will stand a good deal of bullying and firing at before they leave the ground for good, and as they are to be found within easy reach from many of the hill-stations, they afford pretty shooting to sportsmen who are debarred from hunting better game. Few men go out of their way to hunt gooral, but it is very good fun all the same, and first-class practice both in climbing and shooting.
Buck gooral are generally found alone or with one other companion; if four or five are seen together, they are almost invariably does and young ones. It is nearly impossible to distinguish the sexes at any distance, one rarely gets a fair view of the beast to begin with; the horns are well nigh invisible, except against the skyline, and even if seen are hardly any guide, as both sexes carry them, the buck’s horns being only longer and thicker; and it requires the experience of a Tyrolese keeper, accustomed to chamois, to judge the sex from the shape of a beast half hidden in long grass or bushes. Native shikaris certainly never know.
Walking along a ridge or a hillside you hear a sharp hiss: up jumps a brown beast some fifty yards off, gallops twenty yards, and stands for a second to gaze; you fire, and it rolls down the hill; you climb down congratulating yourself—a clean kill!—a single beast—surely a real good head this time—but when you reach it, too often it is another luckless nanny. In chamois the buck is more heavily built than the doe, is darker in colour, and has a ruff of long black-brown hair along the back, but it takes years of practice to tell an old doe from a buck, especially in winter.
The general colour of gooral is a rich brownish-yellow tipped with sepia, and there is a conspicuous white patch on the throat which is more recognisable in the buck than in the doe, and is really, if it can be seen, the best guide in distinguishing the sexes. General Macintyre mentions an albino gooral.
Though gooral seem fond of heat, they do not like being out in the sun, and this fact is a decided convenience to the sportsmen, the shady side of the hill being both pleasanter and more profitable to work over.