Suede, The Goat Of The Pyrenees
Of all the wild ungulates that inhabit the Iberian Peninsula, the chamois is one of the most unknown animals. In this article, we offer a brief summary about this mysterious species.
Suede, the goat of the Pyrenees
Chamois is a subspecies of Central European chamois, which cohabits with the Cantabrian subspecies ( Rupicapra rupicapra parva ) in the Pyrenees region. Its scientific name is Rupicapra rupicapra subsp. Pyrenean.
Its habitat is located between 1500 and 3000 meters in altitude, but it descends to lower altitudes during winter. They are social animals, like all deer, so they form groups of males and females with their young.
Unlike other deer, both the male and female chamois have horns. Although in terms of size they may be substantially equal, those of females are a little thinner, grow more parallel and have a less pronounced curvature.
Its fur is earth color, slightly reddish in summer.
In Spain, its presence in Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre stands out, with emphasis on the Vale Ordesa National Park and the French National Park of the Western Pyrenees.
It is an exclusively herbivorous animal. The heat occurs in November and the first days of December; puppies are usually born in the second half of May or early June.
Situation and management of the species in the Catalan Pyrenees
The chamois population in Catalonia is distributed over a large part of the Pyrenees massifs and in some mountains belonging to the pre-Pyrenees. Most of this population is controlled by national hunting reserves subordinated to the Generality of Catalonia, without forgetting the protection of a series of specimens located in the national park.
One of the difficulties faced by the growth of this species in the Pyrenees is the appearance of a disease caused by a pestivirus, known as border disease, which since 2001 has caused a high mortality rate. This caused changes in the management of the species, which led to the ban on hunting for a season.
In order to have objective data on the species in this region, since 2012 a Monitoring Program for Chamois in the Catalan Pyrenees has been carried out. This program includes censuses, collection of data on specimens hunted and found dead, and organization of the population by sectors.
Situation and management of the species in the Community of Navarre
This population is located in the Larra-Belagoa and Ezkaurre massifs and in Ori-Lakartxela. As a whole, this is a small population, in good health and with demographic characteristics of low-density populations and forest environments.
Situation and management of chamois in the Aragonese Pyrenees
Since 1995, a series of actions carried out by the Government of Aragon has made it possible to consolidate the management of chamois hunting reserves in the Aragonese Pyrenees. Sixteen management units constituted by mountain ranges were established and population estimates were made in each one of them.
