medicinal use. The Edo period (1603–1868) saw records increase. The encyclopaedia of 1712 contains an illustrated entry on the serow. came into effect, but exceptions were made where animals damaged crops. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, realistic depictions appeared of the serow, beginning with one in Keisuke Ito's Fauna Japonica (1870). Hunting and conservation The serow has long been hunted in Japan, especially in northern Japan where, along with bear-hunting, serow-hunting was strongly associated with matagi culture. Throughout Japan's mountainous regions, the serow has been a valued catch. Its various body parts are used without waste. Prized in particular is its meat—until the mid-20th century, serow meat was so widely eaten in these regions the animal itself was known as "meat". Its waterproof hides were used for rafters' backflaps, its horns were ground as a preventive against diseases such as beriberi, and a cure for stomach-aches was made from the serow's small intestines and gall bladder. An animal that once inhabited deep forests far from populated areas, the Japanese serow has increasingly penetrated the outskirts of villages. In western Honshū, it had become extinct by the 20th century. Elsewhere, it had been hunted to such a severe degree that the Japanese government declared it a "Non-Game Species" in a 1925 hunting law. In 1934, the Law for Protection of Cultural Properties designated it a "Natural Monument Species". Poaching continued, leading the government to declare the Japanese serow a "Special Natural Monument" in 1955, at which point overhunting had brought its numbers to 2000–3000. Populations grew as the police put an end to poaching, and post-War monoculture conifer plantations created favourable environments for the animal. By the 1980s, population estimates had grown to up to 100,000 and serow range had reached . Between 1978 and 2003, its distribution increased 170%, and the population had stabilized. Conflicts with agriculture and forestry led to a 1978 repeal of the full protection the animal received under the 1955 designation. Thenceforth, 13 designated protection areas were established over 23 prefectures. They cover about 20% of the serow range, have a total area of , and range in size from to . Culling removed 20,000 serows outside of conservation areas between 1978 and 2005. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals ranked the Japanese serow as "least concern" in 2008, as it has wide distribution in Japan, and a large, stable or increasing population. The