{{Short description|Species of antelope}} {{About|the European goat-antelope|the African antelope|Gemsbok||Chamois (disambiguation)}} {{distinguish|Chamoy (disambiguation){{!}}Chamoy}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}} {{Speciesbox | name = Chamois | image = 064 Wild Chamois Parc régional Chasseral Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg | image_caption = Wild chamois in the Canton of Bern | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref =<ref name=iucn>{{Cite iucn |title=''Rupicapra rupicapra'' |amends=2020 | author=Anderwald, P. |author2=Ambarli, H. |author3=Avramov, S.|author4=Ciach, M.|author5=Corlatti, L.|author6=Farkas, A.|author7=Papaioannou, H.|author8= Peters, W.| author9 = Sarasa, M. |author10=Šprem, N.|author11=Weinberg, P.|author12=Willisch, C. |name-list-style=amp |article-number=e.T39255A195863093 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T39255A195863093.en |date=2021 |access-date=17 February 2022}}</ref> | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Rupicapra rupicapra | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | range_map = Rupicapra_rupicapra.png | range_map_caption = Holocene distribution of the chamois | synonyms = ''Capra rupicapra'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}} }}
The '''chamois''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|æ|m|w|ɑː}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chamois definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/chamois |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501173432/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/chamois |archive-date=1 May 2021 |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ʃamwa|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Lyokoï-chamois.wav}}; '''''Rupicapra rupicapra'''''), or '''Alpine chamois''', is a species of goat-antelope native to mountainous parts of Europe and Western Asia, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra to the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Rila–Rhodope massif, Pindus, the northeastern mountains of Turkey, and the Caucasus.<ref name=iucn/> It has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand. Some subspecies of chamois are strictly protected in the EU under the European Habitats Directive.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31992L0043:EN:HTML |title=EUR-Lex – 31992L0043 – EN|website=eur-lex.europa.eu}}</ref>
==Description== alt=Chamois in the Aletsch Forest Nature Reserve in Switzerland|thumb|Chamois in the Aletsch Forest Nature Reserve in Switzerland alt=Juvenile chamois in the Aletsch Forest Nature Reserve, Switzerland|thumb|Juvenile chamois in the Aletsch Forest Nature Reserve, Switzerland [[File:009 Wild Alpine Chamois Family Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg|alt=Chamois family at Creux du Van|thumb|Chamois family at Creux du Van]] [[File:Rupicapra rupicapra - Jahňaci štít.jpg|thumb|Chamois in the Tatra Mountains]] The chamois is a very small bovid. A fully grown chamois reaches a height of {{Cvt|70|-|80|cm}} and measures {{cvt|107|-|137|cm}}.<ref name=Macdonald>{{cite book|author=Macdonald, D.W. |author2=Barrett, P. |year=1993|title=Mammals of Europe|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=New Jersey|isbn=0-691-09160-9|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofeurope00macd}}</ref> Males, which weigh {{cvt|30|-|60|kg}}, are slightly larger than females, which weigh {{cvt|25|-|45|kg}}.<ref name= Macdonald/> Both males and females have short, straightish horns which are hooked backwards near the tip, the horn of the male being thicker. In summer, the fur has a rich brown colour which turns to a light grey in winter. Distinct characteristics are white contrasting marks on the sides of the head with pronounced black stripes below the eyes, a white rump and a black stripe along the back.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
==Biology and behaviour== [[File:Следа на дива коза (Rupicapra rupicapra).jpg|thumb|Footprint at Rila National Park, Bulgaria, 2014]] Female chamois and their young live in herds of up to 15 to 30 individuals; adult males tend to live solitarily for most of the year.
During the rut (late November/early December in Europe, May in New Zealand), males engage in fierce battles for the attention of unmated females. An impregnated female undergoes a gestation period of 170 days, after which a single kid is usually born in May or early June. On rare occasions, twins may be born.<ref name= Macdonald/> If a mother is killed, other females in the herd may try to raise the young.<ref name= "ADW">{{cite web |title=''Rupicapra rupicapra'' |author=Gunderson, D. |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Rupicapra%20rupicapra.html |work=Animal Diversity Web}}</ref>
Kids are weaned at six months of age and are fully grown by one year of age, but do not reach sexual maturity until they are three to four years old, although some females may mate at as early two years old.<ref name= Macdonald/> At sexual maturity, young males are forced out of their mother's herds by dominant males (who sometimes kill them), to wander somewhat nomadically until they can establish themselves as mature breeding specimens at eight to nine years of age.<ref name= "ADW"/>
Chamois eat various types of vegetation, including highland grasses and herbs during the summer and conifers, barks and needles from trees in winter. Primarily diurnal in activity, they often rest around mid-day and may actively forage during moonlit nights.<ref name= Macdonald/>
Chamois can reach an age of 22 years in captivity, although the average recorded age in the wild ranges from 15 to 17 years. Common causes of mortality can include avalanches, epidemics and predation. In the past, the principal predators were Eurasian lynxes, Persian leopards and Golden Jackal, gray wolves, and possibly brown bears and golden eagles, but humans are now the main predators of chamois.<ref name= Macdonald/> Chamois usually use speed and stealthy evasion to escape predators and can run at {{cvt|50|km/h}} and can jump {{cvt|2|m}} vertically into the air or over a distance of {{cvt|6|m}}.<ref name= "ADW"/>
==Distribution and habitat== The chamois is native to the Alps, the mountains of south and central Europe, Turkey, and the Caucasus. It lives in precipitous, rugged, rocky terrain at moderately high elevations of up to at least {{cvt|3600|m}}. In Europe, the chamois spends the summer months in alpine meadows above the tree line, but moves to elevations of around {{cvt|800|m}} to spend the winter in pine-dominated forests.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
===In New Zealand=== Alpine chamois arrived in New Zealand in 1907 as a gift from the Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph I in exchange for specimens of living ferns, rare birds and lizards. Albert E. L. Bertling, formerly head keeper of the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, London, accepted an invitation from the New Zealand Government to deliver a consignment of chamois (two bucks and six does) to the colony. They arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, on 23 January 1907, on board SS ''Turakina''. From Wellington the chamois were transhipped to the ''Manaroa'' and conveyed to Lyttelton, then by rail to Fairlie in South Canterbury and a four-day horse trek to Mount Cook. The first surviving releases were made in the Aoraki / Mount Cook region and these animals gradually spread over much of the South Island.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/free_issues/ProNZES11_32.pdf|title=A Note on the Chamois in New Zealand at New Zealand Ecological Society}}</ref><ref name="DOC"/>
In New Zealand, chamois hunting is unrestricted and even encouraged by the Department of Conservation to limit the animal's impact on New Zealand's native alpine flora.<ref name="DOC">{{cite web|url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks-and-recreation/hunting/nelson-marlborough/chamois.pdf|title=Recreational hunting in Nelson/Marlborough – Chamois at the Department of Conservation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/3.%20heritage%20preservation.pdf|title=Heritage Preservation (p. 40 and 45) at the Department of Conservation|access-date=12 February 2008|archive-date=26 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926125002/http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/3.%20heritage%20preservation.pdf}}</ref>
New Zealand chamois tend to weigh about 20% less than European individuals of the same age, suggesting that food supplies may be limited.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzhuntinginfo.com/game/chamois.html|title=Trophy Chamois Buck Hunting New Zealand Free Range Safari Park Record Horns|access-date=1 September 2012|archive-date=4 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204212944/http://www.nzhuntinginfo.com/game/chamois.html}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The species ''R. rupicapra'' is categorized into seven subspecies: {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Subspecies !! Distribution |- | ||''R. r. asiatica'' (Anatolian chamois or Turkish chamois)|| Turkey |- |120px ||''R. r. balcanica'' (Balkan chamois)|| Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, northern Greece (the Pindus Mountains),<ref>[http://www.naturalsciences.be/institute/associations/rbzs_website/bjz/back/pdf/BJZ%20137(1)/Volume%20137(1),%20pp.%2033-39.pdf Current status of the Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) in Greece: Implications for conservation at Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410032757/http://www.naturalsciences.be/institute/associations/rbzs_website/bjz/back/pdf/BJZ%20137%281%29/Volume%20137%281%29%2C%20pp.%2033-39.pdf |date=April 10, 2008 }}</ref> North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia (isolated populations)<ref name=gams-slo /> |- |120px ||''R. r. carpatica'' (Carpathian chamois)|| Romania |- | ||''R. r. cartusiana'' (Chartreuse chamois)|| France |- | ||''R. r. caucasica'' (Caucasian chamois)|| Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia |- |120px ||''R. r. rupicapra'' (Alpine chamois)|| Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia,<ref name=gams-slo>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalna-knjiznica.bf.uni-lj.si/dn_zupan_miha.pdf|title=Mineral Supply and Fertility of Chamois}}</ref> Slovakia (Veľká Fatra, Slovak Paradise) and New Zealand (introduced).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio13Tuat02-t1-body-d3.html |title=Introduced Ungulates in New Zealand — (c) Chamois |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118204948/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio13Tuat02-t1-body-d3.html }}</ref> |- |120px ||''R. r. tatrica'' (Tatra chamois)|| Slovakia (Tatras and Low Tatras) and Poland (Tatras) |- |}
==Hunting and wildlife management== [[File:Gamsbaerte 2194.jpg|thumb|Gamsbarts on hats at the Oktoberfest in Munich]]Chamois are popular game animals, sought for their meat. Chamois have two traits that are exploited by hunters: the first is that they are most active in the morning and evening when they feed; the second is that they tend to look for danger originating from below, which means that a hunter stalking chamois from above is less likely to be observed and more likely to be successful.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nzhuntinginfo.com/articles/beginners.html|title=Beginners Chamois Hunting Guide}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tschohl |first1=Christl |title=Chamois goulosh: wild on wild |url=https://www.montafon.at/en/service/cuisine/montafon-recipes/gamsgulasch |website=Montafan.at |publisher=Montafon Tourismus GmbH |access-date=12 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213005551/https://www.montafon.at/en/service/cuisine/montafon-recipes/gamsgulasch |archive-date=13 February 2019 }}</ref>
The tuft of hair from the back of the neck, the ''gamsbart'' (chamois "beard"), is traditionally worn as a decoration on hats throughout the alpine countries.
==Chamois leather== thumb|Chamois leather depicting a deer's head {{Main|Chamois leather}}
Chamois leather, traditionally made from the hide of the chamois, is very smooth and absorbent and is favoured in cleaning, buffing, and polishing because it produces no scratching. Modern chamois leather may still be made from chamois hides, but hides of deer or domestic goats or sheep are much more commonly used.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
===Chamois fabric=== An artificial fabric known as "chamois" is made variously from cotton flannel, PVA, viscose, and other materials with similar qualities. It is napped to produce a plush surface similar to moleskin or chamois leather.{{cn|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Gemse01.JPG|thumb|Chamois on the Piz Beverin mountain, Switzerland]] [[File:Chamois R R Carpatica.JPG|thumb|Chamois in the Retezat Mountains]]
==See also== * Cantabrian chamois * Pyrenean chamois * Tatra chamois * Abruzzo chamois
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikispecies|Rupicapra rupicapra}} {{Commons}} *[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=625159 ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) report for the species Chamois] *[http://www.fishinghuntinginfo.com/hunting/deerbig-game-species/chamois-nz/ New Zealand Chamois and their distribution in New Zealand] *[http://duretskis.co.uk/Rupicabra%20rupicabra.html Chamois is the logo for the French ski manufacturer – Duret] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306144125/http://duretskis.co.uk/Rupicabra%20rupicabra.html |date=6 March 2016 }} *{{Wikisource-inline|list= **{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Chamois|short=x |noicon=x}} **{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Chamois|short=x |noicon=x}} }}
{{Artiodactyla|R.3}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q131340}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Caprinae Category:Mammals of Europe Category:Mammals of New Zealand Category:Mammals of West Asia Category:Mammals of Azerbaijan Category:Mammals of Russia Category:Fauna of Italy Category:Mammals described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Habitats Directive species