Alpine chamois

Rupicapra rupicapra

Group: Big game
Size class: Medium (10–70 kg)
Family: Bovidae

Range

Europe
Oceania

Habitat

Mountain

Range

Countries it is found in

24 countries

Albania
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Italy
Kosovo
Liechtenstein
Montenegro
New Zealand
North Macedonia
Poland
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Switzerland
Türkiye

Range from:ASM Mammal Diversity Database, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), or Alpine chamois, is a goat-antelope of the mountains of Europe and Western Asia — the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra and Carpathians, the Balkan and Rila–Rhodope ranges, the Pindus, northeastern Turkey and the Caucasus. It has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand, and some subspecies are strictly protected in the EU under the Habitats Directive. It lives in precipitous, rocky terrain up to at least 3,600 m. In Europe it spends the summer in alpine meadows above the tree line and comes down to around 800 m for the winter, into pine-dominated forest.

Chapter 02

Identification

A very small bovid: 70–80 cm at the shoulder and 107–137 cm long, bucks weighing 30–60 kg and does 25–45 kg. Both sexes carry short, straightish horns that hook sharply backwards near the tip, the buck's thicker than the doe's. The summer coat is a rich brown that turns light grey in winter. The face is the giveaway: white contrasting marks on the sides of the head with pronounced black stripes below the eyes, together with a white rump and a black stripe along the back.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

Does and their young live in herds of 15 to 30; adult bucks are solitary for most of the year. The rut falls in late November and early December in Europe, when bucks fight fiercely over unmated does. After a gestation of 170 days a single kid, rarely twins, is born in May or early June. Young males are driven out of the herd at maturity and wander until they can establish themselves as breeders at eight or nine years old. Chamois graze highland grasses and herbs in summer and turn to conifers, bark and needles in winter. They are mainly active by day, rest around midday and may forage on moonlit nights. A resting group keeps a lookout, and the alarm is a shrill whistle and a stamp of the foot before the whole group takes off. They escape by speed and stealth, running at 50 km/h and jumping 2 m straight up or 6 m across. Avalanches, epidemics and predation kill them; humans are now their main predator.

Chapter 04

Hunting

Chamois are popular game, sought for their meat, and two habits are used against them. They feed mostly in the morning and evening, and they watch for danger from below — so a hunter who stalks them from above is less likely to be seen and more likely to succeed. The tuft of hair from the back of the neck, the gamsbart, is traditionally worn on hats across the alpine countries. In New Zealand, where chamois from the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I were released around Mount Cook in 1907 and spread over much of the South Island, hunting is unrestricted and even encouraged by the Department of Conservation to protect the native alpine flora. New Zealand chamois weigh about 20 per cent less than European ones of the same age.

Field data

Tracks

A photograph of real sign left by Alpine chamois. Prints vary with gait, ground and how long they have been there — treat this as one example, not a template.

Track photo:Malte Krömer CC BY

On the table