Pyrenean chamois


The Pyrenean chamois 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.

Names

  • Aragonese: sarrio, chizardo
  • Asturian: robecu/robezu
  • Basque: pirinioetako sarrioa
  • Catalan: isard
  • French: izard/isard
  • Galician: rebezo
  • Italian: camoscio dei Pirenei, camoscio appenninico
  • Occitan: isard, sarri
  • Spanish: rebeco, ''gamuza''

    Subspecies

ImageSubspeciesDistribution
R. p. pyrenaica Andorra, France and Spain
R. p. parva Spain
R. p. ornata Central and southern Italy

Description

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.

Conservation

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.