• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.55-59
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• 2021

We intended to describe a case of cerebral coenurosis in a long-tailed goral, Naemorhedus caudatus, from Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do (Province), in the Korea. The goral, a 10-year-old male, was suffering from neurological symptoms, such as turning the circle to one side without lifting the head straight, and died at 30 days after admission to the wildlife medical rescue center in Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do. A fluid-filled cyst was detected in the left cerebral hemisphere by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The cyst removed from the deceased goral was transparent, about 3×3 cm in size, contained a clear fluid and approximately 320 protoscolices invaginating from the internal germinal layer. The protoscolex had 4 suckers and a rostellum with 28 hooklets arranged in 2 rows. By the present study, a case of cerebral coenurosis was first confirmed in a long-tailed goral, N. caudatus, from Gangwon-do, in Korea. The residents frequently exposed in the sylvatic environment should be careful the accidental infections of zoonotic metacestode of Taenia multiceps, Coenurus cerebralis, in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.161-165
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• 2023

A 6-year-old female long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus, goral) was admitted to the Gangwon wildlife medical rescue center due to severe starvation and hypothermia. The goral displayed clinical signs of severe weight loss, dehydration, lethargy, regurgitation, hypothermia, and bloating, with blood tests showing a decrease in albumin, calcium, glucose, and sodium. Supportive care was given through heating, oxygen supply, and fluid therapy, but the goral's condition worsened, and the goral died three days after admission. Radiographic and computed tomography scans revealed the presence of an indigestible foreign body (IFB) in the rumen, which was confirmed during the necropsy. The cause of goral's death was identified as chronic rumen impaction caused by the IFB (a ball of string), with other pathological findings including bloating, the presence of serous ascites, and congestion of digestive organs. Blood biochemical changes, clinical signs, and veterinary medical imaging diagnosis can be helpful in diagnosing ruminal impaction. This case report can provide valuable information for the diagnosis and treatment of ruminal impaction caused by IFB in endangered gorals, which may include rumenotomy or other surgical procedures.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.32-41
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• 2021

South Korea presently harbors less than 800 long-tailed gorals (Naemorhedus caudatus), an endangered species. I report for the first time on the taxonomic status and genetic diversity of the Korean species using non-invasive fecal sampling based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence analyses. To determine the taxonomic status of this species, I reconstructed a consensus neighbor-joining tree and generated a minimum spanning network combining haplotype sequences obtained from feces with a new goral-specific primer set developed using known sequences of the Korean goral and related species (e.g., Russian goral, Chinese goral, Himalayan goral, Japanese serow, etc.). I also examined the genetic diversity of this species. The Korean goral showed only three different haplotypes. The phylogenetic tree and parsimony haplotype network revealed a single cluster of Korean and Russian gorals, separate from related species. Generally, the Korean goral has a relatively low genetic diversity compared with that of other ungulate species (e.g., moose and red deer). I preliminarily showcased the application of non-invasive fecal sampling to the study of genetic characteristics, including the taxonomic status and genetic diversity of gorals, based on mitochondrial DNA. More phylogenetic studies are necessary to ensure the conservation of goral populations throughout South Korea.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.191-198
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• 2022

Natural habitats of the Korean long-tailed goral (Naemorhedus caudatus) have been fragmented by anthropogenic activities in South Korea in the last decades. Here, the individual identity, genetic variation, and population differentiation of the endangered species were examined via the multiple-tube approach using a non-invasive genotyping method. The average number of alleles was 3.16 alleles/locus for the total population. The Yanggu population (1.66) showed relatively lower average number of alleles than the Inje population (3.67). Of the total 19 alleles, only seven (36.8%) alleles were shared by the two populations. Using five polymorphic out of six loci, four and six different goral individuals from the captive Yanggu (n=24) and the wild Inje (n=28) population were identified, respectively. The allele distribution was not identical between the two populations (Fisher's exact test: P<0.01). A considerably low migration rate was detected between the two populations (no. of migrants after correction for size=0.294). Additionally, the F statistics results indicated significant population differentiation between them, however, quite low (F_ST=0.327, P<0.01). The posterior probabilities indicated that the two populations originated from a single panmictic population (P=0.959) and the assignment test results designated all individuals to both populations with nearly equal likelihood. These could be resulted from moderate population differentiation between the populations. No significant evidence supported recent population bottleneck in the total Korean goral population. This study could provide us with useful population genetic information for conservation and management of the endangered species.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.45.1-45.5
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• 2022

We describe a case of gastrocnemius muscle rupture in a goral that got caught in a live trap set up to capture wild boars. We established a diagnostic method based on clinical signs and imaging examination findings, including magnetic resonance imaging for gastrocnemius muscle rupture with symptoms such as hindlimb lameness and plantigrade posture of unknown cause in wild animals. Although this condition is rare, this report will help veterinarians diagnose several diseases of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems in wild animals. This is the first report of successful diagnosis and treatment of gastrocnemius muscle rupture in gorals in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.302-306
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• 2011

Amur's long-tailed goral(Naemorhedus Caudatus) winter scats inhabitants of Wolaksan National Park were surveyed between 2006 and 2009. The scats included seeds of Hovenia dulcis and we confirmed germination of seed from the scats in the spring. 600 dulcis seeds goral scats were collected in the same location and period and 600 normal seeds were also observed in order to study the effect of goral on germination of dulcis. All of the seed(totally 1,200) were cultured in the same condition. As a result, germination rates of seeds from the goral scats and normal seeds were 32.5% and 0.8% respectively. So we confirmed that dulcis seeds in goral habitats germinate approximately 40 times more than without goral.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.119-123
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• 2023

Although various imaging evaluation methods have been developed and utilized, thoracic radiography remains essential and is the top priority for diagnosing and managing cardiac diseases. Thoracic radiographic measurements associated with the vertebral heart scale (VHS) and caudal vena cava (CVC) can objectively diagnose cardiac disease in many animals. In particular, VHS measurement is primarily used to evaluate the dimensions of the heart size on thoracic radiographs and can measure cardiomegaly more objectively. Additionally, the value of the CVC compared with the aorta (Ao) and the length of vertebrae (VL) can be used as valuable parameters in right congestive heart failure. To describe the CVC/Ao and CVC/VL ratios in 10 long-tailed gorals (Naemorhedus caudatus) without subjective radiographic evidence of cardiac diseases. The VHS, CVC, Ao, and VL of gorals were measured in the right lateral (RL) view of the thoracic radiographs. In the RL view of 10 gorals, the VHS was 9.31 ± 0.55 vertebrae (v), the CVC/Ao ratio was 0.84 ± 0.13, and the CVC/VL ratio was 0.67 ± 0.09. Additionally, the thoracic morphology of gorals was determined to be intermediate (thoracic depth-to-width ratio, 1.04 ± 0.09, 0.75-1.25). This study confirmed that VHS was significantly correlated with CVC and Ao, and measuring and comparing each value would help diagnose cardiac diseases in gorals. The radiographic measurements in this study will allow veterinarians to diagnose several cardiac diseases in gorals.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.71-75
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• 2024

In this review, we compared the success rates of DNA amplification and introduced the efficient non-invasive sampling of fecal samples collected from captive and wild Korean long-tailed gorals (Naemorhedus caudatus) by referring to previous non-invasive studies, including three important references (Kim et al., 2008; Kim, 2021; Kim, 2022). A large difference in PCR success rates in the captive and wild populations was observed for mitochondrial (100 and 70.0%), sex-linked (44.4 and 20.8%), and microsatellite markers (73.9 and 34.8%, respectively). Out of the three types of genetic markers, the mitochondrial maker showed the highest success rate, followed by microsatellite and sex-linked markers. In addition, we estimated two factors that affected the PCR success, including the length of the amplified fragments (long, medium, and short) and the type of primer (universal and specific) in fecal samples from a captive population. The length of the PCR fragment was inversely proportional to the PCR success (5.3, 44.4, and 55.6% for long, medium, and short fragments, respectively), and the specific primer set (100%) was more efficient than the universal primer set (60.0%). This review is fundamental but would be greatly helpful for new non-invasive conservation genetic studies, particularly those that use fecal samples from captive and wild populations of rare endangered species. We recommend beginning conservation genetic experiments using mitochondrial markers and then nuclear markers, such as microsatellite and sex-linked markers, to save time, costs, and labor.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.314-318
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• 2008

Korean long-tailed goral (Nemorhaedus caudatus) is one of the most endangered species in South Korea. However, detailed species distribution and sex ratio data on the elusive goral are still lacking due to difficulty of identification of the species and sex in the field. The primary aim of this study was to develop an economical PCR-RFLP method to identify species using invasive or non-invasive samples from five Korean ungulates: goral (N. caudatus), roe deer (Capreolus pygargus), feral goat (Capra hircus), water deer (Hydropotes inermis) and musk deer (Moschus moschiferus). The secondary aim was to find more efficient molecular sexing techniques that may be applied to invasive or non-invasive samples of ungulate species. We successfully utilized PCR-RFLP of partial mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (376 bp) for species identification, and sex-specific amplification of ZFX/Y and AMELX/Y genes for sexing. Three species (goral, goat and water deer) showed distinctive band patterns by using three restriction enzymes (Xbal, Stul or Sspl). Three different sexing primer sets (LGL331/335 for ZFX/Y gene; SE47/48 or SE47/53 for AMELX/Y gene) produced sex-specific band patterns in goral, goat and roe deer. Our results suggest that the molecular analyses of non-invasive samples might provide us with potential tools for the further genetic and ecological study of Korean goral and related species.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.710-717
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• 2015

This study was conducted investigate population size and habitat use for the conservation and management of the endangered long-tailed goral in the Seoraksan National Park using feces and camera trap during 2010 to 2014 (track survey, camera trap). As a result of feces tracking and camera trap, its population size was estimated as 160 (camera trap)~251 (feces) individuals in the Seoraksan National Park. The goral prefer $35^{\circ}{\sim}60^{\circ}$ (slope), 600~700m (elevation), NE (aspect), 0~50m (distance to stream), 300~600m (distance to road) and bread-leaved forest (forest type) according to field tracking of fecal. Based on field camera trap, we estimated the age classes of goral populations and activity of gorals during day-time (07-18 time, 56.5%) and night-time (18-07 time, 43.5%). Such analyses of population size and habitat use of the goral could be applied as important fundamental data for conservation of gorals and management of their habitats.