130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

3.5. Northern chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra
Summary
The Northern chamois has increased in
abundance and distribution as a result of targeted
management including reintroductions, the establishment
of protected areas, legal protection from
over-exploitation, and the reduction of competition
with other species. However, the different
subspecies are still subject to a variety of different
threats such as habitat loss, poaching and over-exploitation,
human disturbance, competition with
livestock and introduced species, hybridisation,
disease, and stochastic demographic and environmental
events. In addition, climate change is a
particular concern for the future. Careful conservation
management is required to ensure its
continued survival in Europe.
Background
General description of the species
The Northern chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)
is native to central and southern Europe and
Asia minor [1] and the most abundant mountaindwelling
ungulate in Europe [2] . Here, it is present in
seven subspecies: balcanica, carpatica, cartusiana,
rupicapra, tatrica, asiatica and caucasica [1] (Table 1).
This report does not consider the subspecies R. r.
asiatica (eastern and northeastern Turkey) or R.
r. caucasica (Caucasus Mountains in southern
Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan) [1] . The chamois’
diet consists of grasses, herbs, leaves, buds, shoots
and fungi [1] . Females and young tend to live in
groups of between 5 and 30 animals, while the
males are solitary [3] . Females give birth to one
offspring in May or June, and sexual maturity is
reached at 2.5 years and 1–1.5 years for females
and males respectively [3] . The species is long-lived,
reaching a maximum age of 14 to 22 years [3] .
Distribution in Europe
With its origin in Asia, the first species of Rupicapra
is believed to have reached southwestern Europe
by the end of the Mindel glaciations in the middle
Pleistocene, i.e. between 350,000 and 400,000 years
ago, with colonisation of the continent taking place
during the Würm (50,000–10,000 BC) [4] . Mountain
ranges were colonised after the retreat of the
glaciers [4] , and this colonisation may indeed explain
the species’ highly fragmented current distribution
[2] . During the beginning of the Würm, both
Northern and Southern chamois existed in Europe:
the former from the Caucasus to the Alpine arc,
and the latter on the Iberian Peninsula and in the
Apennines [2] . The species is currently distributed
primarily in the Alpine arc countries, with smaller,
often more fragmented, populations in the Jura,
Vosges, Black Forest, Swabian Jura, Dinaric Alps,
Rhodopi mountains, Carpathians and the Caucasus.
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