The chamois (; ; 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.

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

alt=Chamois family at Creux du Van|thumb|Chamois family at [[Creux du Van]]

thumb|Chamois in the [[Tatra Mountains]]

The chamois is a very small bovid. A fully grown chamois reaches a height of and measures . Males, which weigh , are slightly larger than females, which weigh .

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.

New Zealand chamois tend to weigh about 20% less than European individuals of the same age, suggesting that food supplies may be limited.

Taxonomy

The species R. rupicapra is categorized into seven subspecies:

{| class="wikitable"

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! Image !! Subspecies !! Distribution

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| ||R. r. asiatica (Anatolian chamois or Turkish chamois)|| Turkey

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|120px ||R. r. balcanica (Balkan chamois)|| Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, northern Greece (the Pindus Mountains), North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia (isolated populations) Slovakia (Veľká Fatra, Slovak Paradise) and New Zealand (introduced).

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|120px ||R. r. tatrica (Tatra chamois)|| Slovakia (Tatras and Low Tatras) and Poland (Tatras)

|-

|}

Hunting and wildlife management

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.

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

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.

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.

thumb|Chamois on the [[Piz Beverin mountain, Switzerland]]

thumb|Chamois in the [[Retezat Mountains]]

See also

  • Cantabrian chamois
  • Pyrenean chamois
  • Tatra chamois
  • Abruzzo chamois

References

  • ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) report for the species Chamois
  • New Zealand Chamois and their distribution in New Zealand
  • Chamois is the logo for the French ski manufacturer – Duret