Chamois - Biology and Behaviour

Biology and Behaviour

Female chamois and their young live in herds of up to 100 individuals; adult males tend to live solitarily for most of the year. During the rut (late November/early December in Europe, May in New Zealand), males engage in fierce battles for the attention of unmated females. An impregnated female undergoes a gestation period of 170 days, after which a single kid is born in May or early June, although rarely twins may be born. If a mother is killed, other females in the herd may try to raise them. The kid is weaned at 6 months of age and is fully grown by 1 year of age. However, the kids do not reach sexual maturity until they are 3 to 4 years old, although some females may mate at as early 2 years old. At sexual maturity, young males are forced out of their mother's herds by dominant males (who sometimes kill them), and then wander somewhat nomadically until they can establish themselves as mature breeding specimens at 8 to 9 years of age.

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.

Chamois can reach an age of 22 years in captivity, although the maximum recorded in the wild is from 15 to 17 years of age. Common causes of mortality can include avalanches, epidemics and predation. The main predators of Chamois are Eurasian Lynxes and Gray Wolves, although a few may predated by Brown Bears and Golden Eagles as well. The main predator of chamois now are humans. Chamois usually use speed and stealthy evasion to escape predators and can run at 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph) and can jump 2 m (6.6 ft) vertically into the air or over a distance of 6 m (20 ft).