Distribution of the species
The species is a glacial relict with 7 subspecies in the Alps, the Carpatians, the Caucasus Mountains, Asia Minor and the Balkan peninsula. Inhabiting Bulgaria is R. r. balcanica, distributed in some higher mountains in the Balkans (without Croatia).
In the past (in Bulgaria) the distribution of the species was in the Balkan range, Sredna gora, Vitosha and the Rilo-Rhodope massif. From the end of the 19th century to the 1930s it declined in a threatening manner, disappearing from Sredna gora and Vitosha.
Description of the species (biological and ecological features)
The fur of the chamois in summer is short and smooth, and the color is light brown or reddish-brown. In winter it becomes chocolate brown and the hair on the back grows to 10-20 cm. The underside is light. The legs are usually darker. It has a small beard. The jaws, cheeks and nose are white. A black stripe runs from the eye to the snout.
The main habitats of the Balkan chamois are steep rocky slopes and massifs in the forests and the high mountainous forest-free zone. The mating season in the Balkan range is in October – November, in Pirin from November to the middle of December. Most females start to breed in the third year, and males in the fourth and fifth year. Pregnancy lasts for 160-175 days and most often there is one young. In the summer and the early autumn, the herds of the females reach 40-50 individuals. It feeds during the day with all foodstuff of plant origin, during the winter it’s digging up roots and eats also moss, lichens and buds.
Conservation status
Unfavorable – inadequate.
Conservation state
The Balkan chamois is a protected species included in Annexes 2 and 4 of the Biodiversity Act (BDA) and Annex III of the Bern Convention. The species is also included in Annex II and Annex IV of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive) and in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria (2015) with category “Endangered” (EN).
The Balkan chamois is species, included in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species with category Least Concern (LC).
*Note: For the description of vertebrates is used information from: Golemanski, V. & al. (eds). 2015. Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Vol. 2. Animals. BAS & MoEW, Sofia [English ed.: ISBN 978-954-9746-22-8 (IBER – BAS), 978-954-8497-18-3 (MoEW)]; the website of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).