Animals of the Alps: Ibex, Marmots, Eagles and Mountain Wildlife

Wildlife zones of the Alps

The Alps curve for about 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight countries, from France and Monaco through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Austria to Slovenia. The highest peak, Mont Blanc, rises more than 4,800 m (15,700 ft). As you climb, forests give way to dwarf shrubs, then grassy meadows, then bare rock, snow and ice.

The treeline sits around 2,000 m (6,500 ft), lower on the outer ranges and higher in the dry central Alps. Many animals move up in summer and down to sunny, south-facing slopes in winter.

Alpine ibex: the comeback king

The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) is a stocky wild goat. Males weigh 67–117 kg (148–258 lb) and carry massive, ridged horns 69–98 cm (27–39 in) long that grow throughout life; females are much smaller, at 17–32 kg (37–71 lb), with short horns. Ibex live on steep, rocky slopes at about 1,800–3,300 m (5,900–10,800 ft) and are superb climbers, even scaling near-vertical dam walls to lick salt.

By the early 19th century, hunting had wiped out ibex from almost the whole Alps except about 100 animals around the Gran Paradiso massif in northwest Italy. King Victor Emmanuel II made the area a royal hunting reserve in 1856, which protected them, and it became Italy’s first national park in 1922. Switzerland began reintroducing ibex bred from Gran Paradiso stock in 1911. Today tens of thousands live across the Alps, and the species is listed as Least Concern, although all of them descend from that tiny group and have very low genetic diversity.

Chamois

The chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) is a nimble goat-antelope with short, black horns that hook backward at the tips in both sexes. Males weigh 30–60 kg (66–132 lb) and females 25–45 kg (55–99 lb). In summer the coat is tawny brown, with a pale face crossed by a dark stripe from each eye to the muzzle; in winter it grows thick and turns dark brown to almost black.

Chamois usually live a little lower than ibex, often near the treeline, and many shelter in steep mountain forests during the snowy months. They can run at about 50 km/h (31 mph) on rough ground and jump 2 m (6.5 ft) high. A sharp, whistling snort is their alarm call.

Alpine marmot

The alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is a large ground squirrel that lives in family colonies on sunny meadows above the treeline. It weighs 1.9–8 kg (4.2–17.6 lb), being heaviest in autumn after weeks of fattening on grasses and flowers. When an eagle or fox appears, the first marmot to spot it gives a piercing whistle and the whole colony dives into its burrows.

Marmots hibernate for six months or more, and up to nine months at high altitude, from about October to April. The family huddles together in a burrow plugged with soil and hay, and each animal’s heart rate falls to about five beats a minute. Learn about other deep sleepers in our list of animals that hibernate.

Mountain hare and stoat: white for winter

Two Alpine mammals change color with the seasons. The mountain hare, smaller than the brown hare of the lowlands, is gray-brown in summer and white in winter, apart from black ear tips. The stoat, known as an ermine in its white winter coat, keeps a black tip to its tail all year. Both molt in autumn and spring, timed mainly by day length.

The white coat is perfect camouflage on snow, but climate change is creating a problem: when snow arrives later or melts earlier, white animals stand out against brown ground, making them easier for predators to find.

Golden eagle and bearded vulture

The golden eagle is the top predator of the Alpine skies, with a wingspan of up to about 2.3 m (7.5 ft). In summer, marmots are among its most important prey, and in winter it also feeds on carrion. Pairs nest on cliff ledges and patrol large territories along the valleys.

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is even bigger, with a wingspan of 2.3–2.8 m (7.6–9.3 ft). It is the only bird that lives mainly on bones, which make up 70–90% of its diet. It swallows smaller bones whole, and it carries larger ones high into the air and drops them onto rocks to break them open. Its rusty-orange chest comes from bathing in iron-rich mud and water.

Persecuted as a supposed lamb killer, the bearded vulture was wiped out in the Alps by the early 20th century. A reintroduction project began in Austria in 1986, the first wild chick was raised in the French Alps in 1997, and dozens of pairs now breed across the range. The species is listed as Near Threatened worldwide.

Alpine chough and rock ptarmigan

The alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) is a glossy black member of the crow family with a yellow bill and red legs. Flocks ride the updrafts around the highest peaks and often visit summit huts, ski areas and mountain restaurants for scraps. It may nest at a higher altitude than any other bird, up to about 6,500 m (21,300 ft) in the Himalayas.

The rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) is a grouse of the high meadows and boulder fields. It is mottled gray-brown in summer and pure white in winter except for black tail feathers and, in males, a black eye stripe. Its feet are covered in feathers like snowshoes, and in very cold weather it digs into the snow to roost.

Alpine salamander: a pregnancy of two to four years

The alpine salamander (Salamandra atra) is a jet-black salamander up to about 15 cm (6 in) long that lives in damp meadows, scree and forests, mostly above 700 m (2,300 ft). Unlike most amphibians, it never needs open water to breed. The female usually gives birth to two fully formed young after a pregnancy that usually lasts about two years at middle altitudes and three years or more higher up, one of the longest pregnancies of any animal.

The salamander is active mainly at night and after rain, when dozens may appear on wet paths. Its skin produces toxic secretions that deter predators, so it should be left alone.

Wolves, lynx and bears: returning predators

The large predators of the Alps were exterminated by the early 20th century, but several are back. The Eurasian lynx was reintroduced to Switzerland from 1971, and its population there now numbers in the hundreds; see the Eurasian lynx. Wolves spread naturally from Italy’s Apennine mountains and reached the French Alps in the early 1990s; packs now live in France, Italy and Switzerland (see wolves in Europe).

Brown bears survive in the Italian Alps in Trentino, where bears from Slovenia were released between 1999 and 2002. That population has grown to around 100 animals, and young males sometimes wander into Switzerland and Austria. The return of predators is popular with many people but controversial with livestock farmers.

Where and when to see Alpine wildlife

• Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy: ibex and chamois, often close to trails, especially in late spring when they graze on fresh grass low in the valleys.
• Swiss National Park, Graubünden: founded in 1914, the oldest national park in the Alps; red deer, chamois, ibex, marmots and bearded vultures.
• Hohe Tauern National Park, Austria: marmots near the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, ibex and bearded vultures.
• Vanoise National Park, France: France’s first national park, created in 1963, with large herds of ibex and chamois.
• Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany, and Triglav National Park, Slovenia: chamois, marmots, golden eagles and alpine choughs.

June to September is the best season for marmots, salamanders and high-mountain birds. Ibex and chamois are easier to find lower down in spring, and their mating season, the rut, runs from November to January.

Watch from a distance with binoculars, keep to marked paths and keep dogs on a leash. In winter, animals survive on stored fat, and being chased through deep snow can cost them energy they cannot replace, so respect signed wildlife rest areas.