Asian Caucasian Chamois

Caucasian Chamois

(Rupicapra rupicapra caucasica)

Current SCI all time record: Score 25 2/8

Description: The short, smooth summer coat is overall tawny or reddish-brown, while in winter it becomes a chocolate brown, with guard hairs measuring 10-20 cm / 4-8 inches long covering a wooly underlayer. The under parts are pale. The legs are usually darker, and there is a slight mane on the throat. The jaw, cheeks, and nose-bridge are strikingly white, and there is a black stripe running from the eye to the muzzle. The slender, black horns are found in both sexes. Rising vertically from the forehead, they are sharply curved backwards on their top third like hooks, and can reach a length of 32 cm / 12.8 inches.

Other Common Names:

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Range: Caucasus Mountains of Russia and Azerbaijan; primarily August - November.

Natural History: During the summer months, herds of chamois wander alpine meadows above 1800 meters / 6,000 feet in home ranges averaging 74 hectares. As winter approaches there is a general downward shift to lower altitudes (below 1,100 meters / 3630 feet), where the chamois may enter forested regions, although they remain near steep cliffs. When alarmed, chamois speed to the most inaccessible places, making leaps as high as 2 meters/ 6.6 feet and spanning as much as 6 meters / 19.8 feet. Extremely nimble and surefooted, the chamois can travel up to 50 kmph / 30 mph over steep or uneven ground. Alarm signals include whistling through the nose, 'sneezing', and stamping their feet. During the Autumn rut old males make an open-mouthed grunt. These breeding males drive younger males from the maternal herds, occasionally killing them.

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