R. pyrenaica is also sometimes called Chamois (pronounced shammy).
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
R. pyrenaica were declining in numbers, due to hunting, but are now back on the rise and nearly stabilized. Total numbers for all of Europe hover around 31,000 (Nowak, 1983). One subspecies (Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata) is classified as Endangered and listed in CITES Appendix I
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix i; no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
The meat is a prized food for some people (Nowak, 1983). The winter hair from the back is often used to make hats (Nowak, 1983). Another popular use is to make the skin into "shammy" leather that is used for cleaning glass and polishing automobiles.
Positive Impacts: food
During the summer months R. pyrenaica subsists mainly on herbs and flowers, and in the winter months they also eat lichens, mosses, and young pine shoots (Nowak, 1983). If conditions are bad due to snow, they have been known to fast for two weeks until food could be secured (Nowak, 1983).
Plant Foods: leaves; flowers; bryophytes; lichens
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore )
Rupicapra pyrenaica is found in the mountains of northwestern Spain, the Pyrenees, and the Apennines of central Italy (Nowak, 1983).
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native )
R. pyrenaica generally stays above 1,800 meters in alpine meadows during the warmer months of the year (Nowak, 1983). In late fall and winter they have been known to enter lands below 1,100 meters, while usually staying on steep slopes (Nowak, 1983). Rarely do they ever enter forests (Nowak, 1983).
Habitat Regions: temperate
Terrestrial Biomes: mountains
They have been known to live up to 22 years (Nowak, 1983).
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 22 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 22 years.
R. pyrenaica has an average length between 900-1300 mm (Nowak, 1983). Tail length is 30-40 mm and shoulder height is 760-810 mm (Nowak, 1983). R. pyrenaica usually weighs between 24-50 kg (Nowak, 1983). The summer coat is reddish in color, while the much thicker winter coat is blackish brown with white markings on the throat, neck, shoulders and flanks (Nowak, 1983). Both sexes have slender, black horns that are 152-203 mm long (Nowak, 1983). The horns are set very close together, rise in a vertical fashion, and then bend backwards sharply to form hooks. The hoof is padded with a slight depression and is somewhat elastic, helping to provide solid footing in rough terrain (Nowak, 1983).
Range mass: 24 to 50 kg.
Range length: 900 to 1300 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
R. pyrenaica breeds seasonally, mating in the fall and giving birth in the spring (Nowak, 1983). Females have a gestation period of about 170 days after which the young are born in a shelter of lichens and mosses (Nowak, 1983). Twins and triplets do sometimes occur.
Breeding season: fall
Range number of offspring: 1 (low) .
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 8-9 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 8-9 years.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
The young of R. pyrenaica can usually follow their mothers almost immediately after birth, and they rapidly improve their leaping ability during the first few days of their life (Nowak, 1983).
Parental Investment: altricial ; post-independence association with parents
The Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) is a goat-antelope that lives in the Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, France and Andorra, and the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. It is one of the two species of the genus Rupicapra, the other being the chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra.[1]
Up to 80 cm tall, its summer coat is a ruddy brown; in winter, it is black or brown, with darker patches around the eyes. Both males and females have backward-hooked horns up to 20 cm in length. They browse on grass, lichens and buds of trees. Sure-footed and agile, they are found on any elevation up to 3000 m.
Like other species of chamois, it was hunted almost to extinction, especially in the 1940s, for the production of chamois leather. The population has since recovered, and in 2022 was estimated to be about 50,000 mature individuals.[2][1]
The Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) is a goat-antelope that lives in the Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, France and Andorra, and the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. It is one of the two species of the genus Rupicapra, the other being the chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra.
