Ibex Goat

The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) is a large wild bovid found in the Alps, recognisable by the curved, coiled horns present in both sexes, though much more developed in males. All current populations are descended from the core population that survived in the Gran Paradiso area, where the species was saved from extinction between the 19th and 20th centuries.

The ibex is a large wild goat, with marked sexual dimorphism. Adult males reach aheight at the withers of 90–101 cm, a length of 149–171 cm and a weight of 67–117 kg (in autumn, at the end of the fattening period, the average weight is around 90 kg); the female is significantly smaller, with a height at the withers of 73–84 cm, a length of 121–141 cm and a weight of 17–32 kg. Both sexes have permanent, backward-curving antlers marked by annual growth rings, from which the animal’s age can be estimated — the same principle used for the chamois. In males, the antlers are knotty on the front and reach an average length of 92 cm, with tips that can exceed one metre in older animals; in females, they are smooth, slender and shorter, with an average length of 34 cm that rarely exceeds 35 cm. The coat is greyish-brown, darker in winter and lighter from spring onwards; during the cold season, a downy undercoat develops, which the animal sheds by rubbing against rocks. Males also have a short beard beneath the chin, which is particularly noticeable in winter.

The ibex is a gregarious animal. Males and females live in separate herds for most of the year, coming together only during the breeding season between December and January. Within the groups of males, a hierarchy based on physical condition and antler development is established during the summer, which in winter reduces the number of direct confrontations over access to females; when clashes do occur, they consist of shoving and butting with horns between individuals of comparable rank. Gestation lasts around 24 weeks; the young are born between June and July, usually one per litter, in sites chosen by the female for their inaccessibility. Suckling lasts for about six months; females reach sexual maturity at around one and a half years of age. Lifespan in the wild is estimated at between 15 and 20 years, with documented cases of up to 20–22 years.

The species’ typical habitat consists of rocky cliffs and high-altitude grasslands above the tree line, with a close link between the presence of the ibex and the availability of rocky shelters in which to escape predators. The species has a limited capacity for thermoregulation: during the summer months, it alternates between seeking out rich, more exposed pastures and resting in cooler rocky areas. Historically widespread throughout the Alps, the ibex suffered a drastic decline in the second half of thea drastic decline due to hunting, to the point where it survived only in the area of what is now Gran Paradiso, in the Aosta Valley and Piedmont, with fewer than one hundred individuals. The protection established by Victor Emmanuel II through the Royal Game Reserve of 1856 and, subsequently, the creation of the Gran Paradiso National Park in 1922 prevented the species from becoming extinct: all populations currently present across the Alps are descended from this relict population, through reintroductions that began in the 1920s (the Maritime Alps) and continued throughout the 20th century into the Cottian Alps, Lombardy, the Julian Alps and beyond the border.

The global conservation status of the species is classified by the IUCN Red List as ‘Least Concern’ (assessment 2022.2). Legally, the species has been protected in Italy since 1977 (Law 968/1977, confirmed by Law 157/1992); it is listed in Annex III of the Bern Convention and inAnnex V of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC); hunting of the ibex remains prohibited in Italy, France and Germany, whilst other Alpine countries (Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria) permit regulated culling. In May 2026, a proposed amendment to Law 157/92 (the Malan Bill), which could have paved the way for regulated hunting, was rejected during its passage through Parliament, leaving the current regime of full protection for the species in Italy unchanged. The total population across the Alps has been growing since the Second World War, but population estimates vary significantly depending on the source and thereference year (figures published range from around 39,000 animals in 2000 to over 55,000 in 2015) — see the editorial note.

In the Western Alps, the ibex can be observed with relative ease in the Gran Paradiso National Park, particularly in the Cogne, Valsavarenche and Valnontey valleys, where the animals often graze close to settlements and tourist trails. The species has also been recorded in other protected areas of the western Alps (the Maritime Alps, the Cottian Alps) and in numerous areas of the Aosta ValleyAosta Valley outside the park’s boundaries, as a result of the natural expansion of its range.

The ibex can be distinguished from the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), with which it shares thealpine rocky habitat, by its significantly larger size, the lack of hooked tips on its horns (which are straight and curved in the ibex, whereas those of the chamois are hooked) and the absence of the chamois’s characteristic black-and-white facial mask.

Fact sheet

Common name: Alpine ibex (Alpine mountain goat, ibex)
Scientific name: Capra ibex Linnaeus, 1758
Species: placental mammal, artiodactyl ungulate
Family: Bovidae (subfamily Caprinae)
Distribution: the Alpine arc (Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Slovenia)
Habitat: rocky environments and high-altitude grasslandshigh-altitude grasslands, generally between 1,600 m and 3,200 m
Diet: herbivore — grasses and fresh herbs in summer, shrubs, shoots, lichens and conifer needles in other seasons