The red goral is a bright foxy-red animal with long, soft, shaggy hair. A thin dark stripe runs along the spine from the head to the tip of the tail. The legs are the same rich red as the body, while the undersides are a lighter buff colour. The black-coloured tail is very short for a goral, but a long tuft of dark hair at the end may double its apparent length. The face is slightly lighter in color than the body, with a dark patch just above the nose. The light throat "bib" typical of gorals is either absent of poorly-defined in the red goral. The ears are relatively short. Both males and females have a pair of short, arcing horns. The horns of males tend to be longer and thicker than those of females, but lengths of 7.5-16 cm are typical for both sexes.