This curious animal, which is found just outside British limits in the Mishmi and Akha hills, north of Assam, and in Eastern Thibet, is a kind of large serow; but its horns, instead of being sharp upright spikes like those of the serow and gooral, are more of the bovine type, being rounded, smooth, and with the distinctive wrinkles and longitudinal marks of genus Nemorhædus faintly defined. Their peculiar twist is best explained by the accompanying sketch.
An article in Sterndale’s ‘Mammalia of India,’ signed ‘J. C.,’ thus describes the animal:
The takin is a large, heavily built ruminant, about 3 ft. 6 ins. high at the shoulder, and 6 ft. in total length. The external peculiarities of the animal are: first, peculiar angularly curved horns in both sexes; second, the enormously arched chevron; third, the very great development of the spurious hoofs, which are obtusely conical, and about 1½ in. in length in a small specimen.
Old bulls appear to become of an uniform brownish black at times, but the colour doubtless depends on the season, as each hair has the basal two-thirds yellow, and its apical third black, and the young its hair brown with a dark tint.
The animal would appear to range from about 8,000 ft. to the Alpine region, which is stated to be its habitat.
Budorcas taxicolor
As this animal has been found by the Abbé David in Chinese Thibet, future explorations to the north of Burmah should furnish skeletons and details about its habits for the advancement of science.
There are two skulls in the British Museum in which the prominent chevron is particularly noticeable; and there are also several stuffed specimens.