Chamois in the Aletsch Forest Nature Reserve in SwitzerlandJuvenile chamois in the Aletsch Forest Nature Reserve, SwitzerlandChamois family atCreux du VanChamois in theTatra Mountains
The chamois is a very small bovid. A fully grown chamois reaches a height of 70–80 cm (28–31 in) and measures 107–137 cm (42–54 in).[4] Males, which weigh 30–60 kg (66–132 lb), are slightly larger than females, which weigh 25–45 kg (55–99 lb).[4] Both males and females have short, straightish horns which are hooked backwards near the tip, the horn of the male being thicker. In summer, the fur has a rich brown colour which turns to a light grey in winter. Distinct characteristics are white contrasting marks on the sides of the head with pronounced black stripes below the eyes, a whiterump and a black stripe along the back.[citation needed]
Female chamois and their young live in herds of up to 15 to 30 individuals; adult males tend to live solitarily for most of the year.
During therut (late November/early December in Europe, May inNew Zealand), males engage in fierce battles for the attention of unmated females. Animpregnated female undergoes agestation period of 170 days, after which a single kid is usually born in May or early June. On rare occasions, twins may be born.[4] If a mother is killed, other females in the herd may try to raise the young.[5]
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.[4] At sexual maturity, young males are forced out of their mother's herds by dominant males (who sometimes kill them), to wander somewhat nomadically until they can establish themselves as mature breeding specimens at eight to nine years of age.[5]
Chamois eat various types of vegetation, including highland grasses and herbs during the summer and conifers, barks and needles from trees in winter. Primarily diurnal in activity, they often rest around mid-day and may actively forage during moonlit nights.[4]
Chamois can reach an age of 22 years in captivity, although the average recorded age in the wild ranges from 15 to 17 years. Common causes of mortality can include avalanches, epidemics and predation. In the past, the principal predators wereEurasian lynxes,Persian leopards andGolden Jackal,gray wolves, and possiblybrown bears andgolden eagles, but humans are now the main predators of chamois.[4] Chamois usually use speed and stealthy evasion to escape predators and can run at 50 km/h (31 mph) and can jump 2 m (6 ft 7 in) vertically into the air or over a distance of 6 m (20 ft).[5]
The chamois is native to thePyrenees, theAlps, the mountains of south and centralEurope,Turkey, andthe Caucasus. It lives in precipitous, rugged, rocky terrain at moderately high elevations of up to at least 3,600 m (11,800 ft). In Europe, the chamois spends the summer months in alpinemeadows above the tree line, but moves to elevations of around 800 m (2,600 ft) to spend the winter in pine-dominated forests.[citation needed]
Alpine chamois arrived in New Zealand in 1907 as a gift from theAustrian Emperor,Franz Joseph I in exchange for specimens of living ferns, rare birds and lizards. Albert E. L. Bertling, formerly head keeper of theZoological Society's Gardens, Regent's Park, London, accepted an invitation from the New Zealand Government to deliver a consignment of chamois (two bucks and six does) to the colony. They arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, on 23 January 1907, on board SSTurakina. From Wellington the chamois were transhipped to theManaroa and conveyed to Lyttelton, then by rail to Fairlie in South Canterbury and a four-day horse trek to Mount Cook. The first surviving releases were made in theAoraki / Mount Cook region and these animals gradually spread over much of theSouth Island.[6][7]
As their meat is considered tasty,[13] chamois are populargame animals. 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.[14]
The tuft of hair from the back of the neck, thegamsbart (chamois "beard"), is traditionally worn as a decoration on hats throughout the alpine countries.
Chamois leather, traditionally made from thehide 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 ofdeer or domesticgoats orsheep are much more commonly used.[citation needed]
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