Global and European regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 regional assessment: Least Concern (LC)

This European endemic species is currently increasing in numbers and range. It is not believed to approach the thresholds for any of the criteria for the IUCN Red List. Consequently, it is assessed as Least Concern. Subspecies Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica and R. p. parva are also assessed as Least Concern. However, R. p. ornata is assessed here as Vulnerable (D1+2) as this subspecies lives in very small populations and has restricted area of occupancy. It was previously assessed in 1996 as Endangered, but because of strict protection and a programme of captive breeding and reintroductions and introductions, its population has increased such that it no longer meets criterion D at this level. Ongoing conservation measures are required to ensure its future conservation.

Rupicapra pyrenaica is endemic to southwest Europe, where it occurs as three subspecies: Pyrenean Chamois R. p. pyrenaica, Cantabrian Chamois R. p. parva and Apennine Chamois R. p. ornata (Shackleton 1997, Pedrotti and Lovari 1999). The Pyrenean Chamois is found in the Pyrenees, in Andorra, France and Spain. The Cantabrian Chamois occurs in the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain). The Apennine Chamois now survives only in five small to very small populations in the Abruzzo, Maiella, Gran Sasso-Monti dellaLaga and Monti Sibillini National Parks, as well as in the Sirente-Velino Regional Park in Italy, although earlier in the Holocene it ranged from the Sibillini Mountains (Marche Region, Italy) down to the Pollino Massif (Calabria Region, Italy) (Masini 1985, Masini and Lovari 1988). The altitudinal range of the species is 200–3,000 m.

Overall, the status of this species has greatly improved since 1990. The population and range of the Pyrenean chamois increased markedly from 1989 to 2003, although there have subsequently been some declines due to keratoconjunctivitis Mycoplasma conjunctivae (Arnal et al. 2013) and pestivirus outbreaks (Marco et al. 2009, Serrano et al. 2015, Gilot-Fromont et al. 2018). The estimate was around 53,000 in 2002 (Herrero et al. 2004) belonging to one metapopulation. Densities of Pyrenean chamois tend to be lower outside non-huntable areas (National Parks, Natural Reserves) and Game Reserves.

The Cantabrian Chamois lives in three subpopulations, Western, Central and Eastern. In the Western and Central subpopulations around 16,000 (Pérez-Barbería et al. 2009) animals have been counted. In the westernmost end of Cantabrian Mountains, chamois disappeared or were greatly reduced in the 1970s. In the following decade, new chamois were translocated, and currently form an expanding metapopulation.

In the Eastern subpopulation, the result of a reintroduction in 2002–2005 (Sánchez-Martínez et al. 2011), 131 individuals were counted in 2017. Contrary to the other subspecies, numbers of the Apennine chamois remain small. Numbers have probably been low for the last few centuries, only starting to increase in the 1920s as a result of increased protection. Numbers plummeted again to just several tens of individuals in a single population in the Abruzzo National Park during World War II (Lovari 1989). As a result of conservation actions, including re-introductions and conservation introductions, numbers have increased again and total population size is currently estimated at no less than 3,000 individuals, in five separate populations (Mari and Lovari 2006; S. Lovari pers. comm. 2019), up from a total of c. 400 individuals in the late 1980s (Lovari 1989). Presently, the number of mature individuals does not exceed 2,000.

The species is found in alpine meadows, rocky areas, forested valleys and lower slopes in mountainous regions. It generally stays above 1,800 m in alpine meadows during the warmer months of the year (Corlatti et al. 2022). These animals make seasonal migrations from steep forests in the valley slopes (in winter) to the open alpine meadows in summer (e.g. Corlatti et al. 2022). In recent years, some populations have started to permanently inhabit forests (Herrero et al. 1996). Some Cantabrian populations live at 200 m. Males and females live separately outside the rutting period. Females live in groups of adults with young, while males are more solitary. The rut takes place in November and early December, and females give birth to one young after 160–170 days of gestation (Loison 1995). Longevity is about 20 years (Loison 1995).

For Pyrenean Chamois, diseases are currently the most important threat. Several keratoconjunctivitis outbreaks (Arnal et al. 2013) and the Pestivirus since 2001 affect populations (Serrano et al. 2015). Sarcoptic mange Sarcoptes scabiei affects the central Cantabrian central subpopulation (Nores and Gonzalez-Quirós 2009). In Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains, chamois coexist with domestic livestock, with no apparent problems of competition; indeed, in the Pyrenees the presence of domestic livestock is considered to benefit the chamois, via maintenance of young and good quality forage, which increases the carrying capacity. Most Pyrenean and Cantabrian populations are hunted, with the exception of those living in National Parks and other Protected Areas as Nature Reserves. Pyrenean Chamois are a major game subspecies, except for Navarre region (Spain) where it was Vulnerable until 2019 and then it has been delisted (Herrero et al. 2016) and is important socially and economically as a source of rural livelihoods. Hunting is carefully managed and revenue from hunting is returned to the local community in Game Reserves in Spain (Pita Fernández et al. 2012). In Spain the regional governments and in Andorra the government set quotas, and hunting is not at an unsustainable level. In France, hunting is essentially a recreational and non-profit leisure activity, and average annual quotas are under 10% of counted individuals within populations. This is sustainable, with only a few local exceptions (C. Berducou pers. comm. 2006). The threats to the species vary in different parts of its range.

Apennine Chamois may be vulnerable to many factors because their total number is small, locally decreasing, divided in only five populations, and genetic variability is very low (e.g. Lorenzini 2005, Corlatti et al. 2011). Space and food competition with livestock, especially domestic Caprinae, seem to have been the main limiting factors. Some poaching occurs, but does not seem to impair the viability of the populations. There are currently no problems with disease for the Italian subspecies. Presently, the major threat for Apennine Chamois seems to be the ongoing climatic change, which alters the structure, abundance and distribution of grasslands used by this ungulate, with effects on juvenile malnutrition in summer and an increase of winter mortality (Lovari et al. 2020). Some negative effects of high temperature/low rainfall in spring on individual survival have been reported also for an area of the French Pyrenees (Loison et al.1999). Moreover, as shown by Kourkgy et al. (2016), even if birth dates in Pyrenean chamois seem to respond each year to onset of spring, an increased mismatch between birth dates and plant productivity yet occurs, potentially leading to a systematic decrease in juvenile survival. Locally, chamois are also outcompeted by Red Deer Cervus elaphus, which has been recolonizing Apennine areas formerly used only by chamois (Lovari et al. 2014, Ferretti et al. 2015). Moreover, vegetation dynamics in secondary meadows of the Apennines have reduced the availability of nutritious pasture through the ongoing spread of poorly palatable plants (Corazza et al. 2016).

Hunting of this species is generally well managed and sustainable.

The species is listed on Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Annex V of the EU Habitats and Species Directive (as part of R. rupicapra sensu lato).

In Spain, the species occurs in several Protected Areas and Game Reserves, including non-huntable areas (Picos de Europa, Ordesa y Monte Perdido and AiguestortesiLlach de SantMaurici National Parks; Larra-Belagoa and Muniellos Nature Reserves); and huntable ones, as Natural Parks (Fuentes del Narcea, Degana e Ibias, Somiedo, Las Ubinas-La Mesa, Ponga, Redes, Alt Pallars-Aran, Posets-Maladeta, Cadi, Los Valles Occidentales); Game Reserves (Los Valles, Viñamala, Los Circos, Benasque, Cerdanya, Cadi, FresserSetcasas, Mampodre, Saja, Somiedo), among others. In France, it occurs in a number of protected areas (Pyrenees National Park, Roc-Blanc, Moudang and Mont-Vallier Mountain Reserves, Orlu National Wildlife Reserve) and other small reserves where hunting is banned. A study of population dynamics is ongoing in France in Orlu and Bazes, epidemiological situation, as well as a detailed survey of the population size and distribution (Richard et al. 2017, Lambert et al. 2018). In France, there is a hunting plan that is designed to correct geographic imbalances in numbers and distribution, but might be difficult to achieve. A major restoration effort was carried out in the French Pyrenees between 1981 and 2000, involving the translocation of more than 600 individuals (Herrero et al. 2004, C. Novoa and C. Berducou pers. comm. 2006). New reintroductions have been carried out in the last years. In Andorra there is a monitoring and a sustainable hunting quota inside and outside reserves.

Apennine Chamois inhabit five separate protected areas. A group of 22 chamois was released in the Majella National Park between 1991 and 1994, and 26 were reintroduced into the Gran Sasso e Monti dellaLaga National Park. Small captive breeding groups have been kept in six large enclosures in five parks. No studbook has been kept, which is a major shortcoming in this captive breeding program (Shackleton 1997). The subspecies is strictly protected under national and international legislation - it is listed on Appendix II of the Bern Convention, Annex II* and Annex IV of the EU Habitats and Species Directive, Appendix II of CITES, and as a “specially protected species” under Italian hunting law. Proposed conservation measures include the following: 1) consider conservation introductions to other protected areas in the central Apennines, once their suitability has been adequately assessed. 2) When selecting individuals for transplants and captive breeding, consider the low genetic variability of this subspecies. This was most likely a result of living at low density for a long time and of population bottlenecks occurring at World Wars I and II. 3) Keep detailed breeding records, genetic profiles, and develop a studbook, for each of the captive breeding populations. 4) Avoid releasing Alpine Chamois into areas of potential (re)introduction of Apennine Chamois as, if such an action was carried out, it would prevent the subsequent release of the latter species (Shackleton 1997).

Future priorities for the species as a whole include extending monitoring of all populations and increasing knowledge of demography, global change and the impact of hunting. It is particularly important that monitoring and research should take place also outside protected areas, i.e. where chamois are hunted.