Taxonomy
There are two species of chamois in the genus Rupicapra: R. rupicapra and R. pyrenaica, which occurs in the Pyrenees (R. p. pyrenaica), Cantabrian mountains (R. p. parva, Cantabrian Chamois), and the Appennines (R. p. ornata). The chamois (along with sheep and goats) are in the goat-antelope subfamily (Caprinae) of the family Bovidae.
The chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) is categorized into several subspecies:
- R. r. rupicapra (Alpine chamois): Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia (Veľká Fatra, Slovak Paradise)
- R. r. tatrica (Tatra chamois): Slovakia (Tatras and Low Tatras) and Poland (Tatras)
- R. r. balcanica (Balkan chamois): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, northern Greece (The Pindus Mountains), Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Slovenia (isolated populations)
- R. r. carpatica (Carpathian chamois): Romania
- R. r. cartusiana (Chartreuse chamois): France
- R. r. asiatica (Anatolian chamois or Turkish chamois): Turkey
- R. r. caucasica (Caucasian chamois): Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation
Read more about this topic: Chamois