Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)

The chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) is a ungulate of the Bovidae family found throughout theAlpine arc, the Apennines and other European mountain ranges, recognisable by the slender, hooked horns found in both sexes. Unlike the ibex, with which it shares its alpine habitat, it has never been reintroduced to the Western Alps, where the population has remained widespread and stable.

The chamois comprises several subspecies found throughout the Alps and the main mountain ranges of central and southern Europe and the Near East; the subspecies found in the Western Alps, including the Aosta Valley, is Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra. The species occupies a wide altitudinal range, moving seasonally between the high-altitude grasslands it frequents in summer and the wooded slopes at lower altitudes where it finds shelter and food during the winter.

Males weigh between 30 and 60 kg and females between 25 and 45 kg, with a head-body length of 107–137 cm and aheight at the withers of 70–80 cm. The coat changes colour with the seasons, shifting from a deep brown in summer to a lighter grey in winter; a distinctive feature is the white facial mask with a dark band beneath the eye, along with a dark dorsal stripe and a white patch on the hindquarters. The horns, present in both sexes, are slender and hooked at the tip: a feature that clearly distinguishes the chamois from the ibex (Capra ibex), whose horns are much larger, curvedbackwards and ringed.

The species lives in groups with a differentiated social structure: females and juveniles form herds of 15–30 individuals, whilst adult males remain predominantly solitary for most of theyear, approaching the female groups only during the rutting season, between late November and early December. Gestation lasts around 170 days, with the birth of a single young between May and early June.

At species level, the IUCN Red List classifies Rupicapra rupicapra as ‘Least Concern’ (2020 reassessment). The overall situation is not uniform across the entire range: the same reassessment indicates a declining trend in some peripheral populations, linked to outbreaks of infectious keratoconjunctivitis and competition with other wild and domestic ungulates. In the Western Alps, including the Gran Paradiso National Park, the population is, by contrast, widespread and stable. Unlike the ibex, whose presence in the Western Alps is due to a reintroduction programme launched from the royal hunting reserve established in 1856 – which later became the Gran Paradiso National Park in 1922 – the chamois has never been close tolocal extinction and has not been the subject of any reintroduction programme, whilst benefiting from the same protected area.

Direct observation is easier than with elusive species such as the wolf: the chamois habitually frequents rocky faces, gullies and steep slopes, even near high-altitude hiking trailshigh altitude, often appearing in groups during daylight hours. The most common confusion in the field is with the ibex: from a distance, the chamois’s slimmer build and slender, hooked horns, as opposed to the ibex’s larger size and arched horns, remain the most reliable distinguishing feature.

Fact Sheet

Common name: chamois, Alpine chamois
Scientific name: Rupicapra rupicapra
Species: artiodactyl mammal (ungulate)
Family: Bovidae
Distribution: the Alps, the Apennines, the Carpathians and the Balkans as far as the Caucasus; a population was introduced to New Zealand during the 20th century.
Habitat: Rocky and rugged mountainous areas, up to over 3,000 metres; alpine meadows in summer, coniferous forests at lower altitudes in winter.
Diet: High-altitude herbs and grasses in summer; conifer bark, needles and shoots in winter.