The Cantabrian chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parva ) is a slim mountain goat antelope, and is one of the 10 subspecies of the genus Rupicapra. It ranges the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain, with a population of 17,000 animals in 2007-2008.
The Cantabrian chamois is a slim bovid the size of a domestic goat. Both sexes have peculiar hooked horns (more hooked and thicker in males than in females, Figures 1,2,3).
The horns have a transversal segmentation pattern due to seasonal growth (winter-summer). The head, throat and cheeks are a light cinnamon colour with a dark mask design that crosses the big eyes (Figure 1). The back, chest, legs and flanks are dark brown, while the shoulders and hindquarters are pale brown. In winter, the back and belly become paler in colour and the flanks darker, giving a more contrasting colour pattern (Figure 4). Juveniles exhibit a less contrasting colour pattern.
Cantabrian Mountains (North West, Spain). From East Saja Reserve and Alto Asón (Cantabria) to West Ancares Reserve (Lugo, Galicia), (Figure 5). Species distribution shrank in historical time.The Cantabrian Mountains are situated in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula, running 450 km East-West, parallel to the Cantabrian Sea and very close to the coastline (max. altitude 2648 m.a.s.l.). The north catchment is very wet (2000 mm/year) and the south catchment has a continental climate, dry and hot in summer and dry and cold in winter.
Subalpine, preference for the ecotone between forest and alpine meadow, with nearby cliffs as refuge-escape areas.
Gregarious. Group size (2-55, median = 6.5). The only stable social unit is mother-offspring that can last until the offspring is 2 yr old.
Grasses year-round with an increase in the proportion of dwarf shrubs in winter (Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea, Erica arborea ).
Only one offspring/year (May–June, first births in the middle of May). Females sexually mature at 3 yr old and fertile until at least at 14 yr old.
Adults are predated only by wolf. Kids can be predated by wolf, fox and golden eagle. Epizootic diseases, such as sarcoptic mange, are a serious threat.Sarcoptic mange is caused by the Sarcoptes scabies acari, which causes damage and itchiness in the skin of a large number of ungulate species worldwide. It can cause death by affecting body condition and inducing severe stress. The greatest changes in the Cantabrian chamois population size have taken place since 1995. In this year an outbreak of mange (originally detected 2 years before, in the south-center of Asturias and north-center of Leon) seriously affected the populations of these areas. Fifteen years after the outbreak (1993-2008) the disease had spread about 40 km east, an average of 2.6 km/yr. In 2009 only the population at the west side of the outbreak focus was free of the disease. The disease may not have spread into the west population due to the very low population densities in the areas that separate the west from the east populations (Figure 7). In 2008, 56% of the whole population and 60% of the distribution range was affected by the disease. The mange is continuing to spread at the current time (2010).
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...