Spot the chamois, ibex and mouflon in the mountains

The sweet chamois

The chamois is an elegant, agile and fast mountain runner and climber. It has a white and black face with dark or black relatively small horns. Males and females have more or less the same size horns. The difference is that the horns on the males bend more and often so much that they almost form a hook.

Compared to the ibex, the horns of a chomois is much smaller. Further more, The chamois is smaller and slimmer than the ibex with a typical weight of about 25 - 40 kg.Use this space to add more details about your site, a customer quote, or to talk about important news.

You typically meet the chamois in the rocky mountains up to 3.000 meters, but you can also meet them on flatter land and in forests. However, it is difficult to get close to them. They tend to run away as soon as they see you. And they run fast both on flat land and in the mountains.

A chamois has the same name in French: un chamois.

The majestic ibex

They are the kings of the French mountains. Not only are they strong and beautiful with amazing horns, they are also born climbers. When you are lucky to encounter them in the French mountains, you will never forget them. Even though I have seen many, I still stop and take photos of them. They are simply amazing. Especially if you are lucky to see them climb or descend almost vertical rocks at amazing speeds.

The ibex lives in the rocky mountain areas from 500 to 3.000 meters of altitude. Their hoofs (sabots in French) are perfectly adapted for movement on rocks. Even on extremely smooth rock, where it is difficult to get a grip for us humans. They can also stand and move on almost vertical rock. They are so amazing to watch.

The ibex is not so afraid of humans. You can typically approach them up to 50 meters of distance before they move. Often even closer. They are not really bothered. But show them respect. Don't go too close. You are in their habitat. Not the other way around.

The male weighs 75 to 120 kg of which the horns alone weigh up to 15 kg and measure 70 - 90 cm long, so they can scratch themselves on the back. They are normally 65 - 85 cm high over the shoulders. The females are smaller and weighs no more than 50 kg with smaller horns of about 25 cm of length.

The ibex is called le bouquetin in French.

The impressive mouflon

The mouflon has also got the same name in French: le mouflon. It is native to Corsica, Sardinia and Crete, but has been introduced to the mainland of France in the Alps and Pyrenees, where there are about 10.000. They are about the same height as the Ibexes, but they are more massive. Their horns are about the the lenght around 85 cm, but they are more curly and make almost a full circle.

Although they like dry and rocky terrain from 300 meters up, where they do some climbing and jumping, they are not real alpine climbers like the Ibexes. Therefore you find them in more varied terrain such as forests, prairies and bushy areas apart from the rocky parts of mountains.

They are not fully protected from hunting like the ibexes, but you need a special license to hunt them.

The mouflon is the ancestor of the sheep.