Welcome to the website of the IUCN Caprinae Specialist Group
The Caprinae Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature is a network of volunteer experts working on the the ecology, behavior, taxonomy, conservation and management of wild Caprinae (wild sheep, goats, goats-antelopes, muskox and allies) from around the world. We aim to promote the conservation of Caprinae and their habitat, promote research on all aspects of Caprinae biology, including the conservation of mountain ecosystems, and provide advice on the biology and conservation of Caprinae to governments, NGOs and researchers.
Photo by By H.Sels (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]
News from the Caprinae world
January 2021
THE NEW ISSUE OF "CAPRINAE NEWS" IS ONLINE, CHECK IT OUT HERE OR IN THE NEWSLETTER SECTION!
THE NEW ISSUE OF "CAPRINAE NEWS" IS ONLINE, CHECK IT OUT HERE OR IN THE NEWSLETTER SECTION!
Stay tuned for the forthcoming 8th World Mountain Ungulate Conference in Italy!
After the 7th edition was held in Bozeman, Montana (USA) in 2019, the next World Conference on Mountain Ungulates will return to Europe to the beautiful landscape of the Italian Alps. The next conference has been planned for September 2022 and will take place in Cogne (Aosta, Italy) at the border of Gran Paradiso National Park.
Gran Paradiso National Park is one of the oldest protected areas in Europe and has had a primary role in the recovery and conservation of the Alpine ibex. In the XIX century, the Alpine ibex was on the brink of extinction due to over-hunting. The only remnant population at the time consisted of less than one hundred individuals and was found on the massif of Gran Paradiso. The area was declared a Royal Hunting Reserve in 1856 by Vittorio Emanuele II and hunting was forbidden. Thanks to protection laws and active surveillance the Alpine ibex was saved from extinction. The hunting reserve of Gran Paradiso was finally donated to the Italian state and declared as a National Park in 1922. In the following years, a huge conservation effort with several reintroduction programs brought back the Alpine ibex to its original range encompassing an alpine arc with a count of more than 50,000 individuals distributed in c. 180 populations. Although a long time has passed since the initiation of the Alpine ibex recovery, it is still one of the most successful conservation stories worldwide.
Since the beginning, the conservation and management of the Alpine ibex have been accompanied by a deep interest of the scientific community to employ the species as a model for the investigation of a broad range of questions, both theoretical and applied to conservation and management. This has allowed the establishment of a virtuous circle that integrates scientific research into conservation and management and, in our opinion, acts as a model for other species.
Over time, it has become clear that as research and technology move on and knowledge accumulates, new questions arise while researchers and managers face exciting and urgent challenges. To answer these questions a narrow research perspective is no longer sufficient, rather a multidisciplinary approach is required. We believe that this is valid not only for the Alpine ibex but also for other ungulate species, spread all over the mountain ranges in the world, and it is with this aim that we are pleased to organize this conference.
The Gran Paradiso National Park will host the Conference as part of the celebrations for its 100th anniversary of the foundation and we will be pleased to welcome researchers, students, wildlife managers, government agencies, NGOs, hunting associations and anyone else interested in mountain ungulates from all over the world.
As in the spirit of past editions, the aim of the 8th Conference on Mountain Ungulates, will be to share the most recent and interesting results of mountain ungulate research and provide opportunities to network with researchers and wildlife managers from the mountain ungulate community. Several topics will be covered, including ecology, behavior, genetics, systematics, palaeontology, pathology, conservation and management, with the ambitious aim of enhancing the integration of different research fields and connecting them with management and conservation.
More details on the conference will be spread via the newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group as well as through other media. The provisional schedule includes the following timeline:
First call: September 2021
Registration date/Abstract submission: October 2021-March 2022
Final conference programme: June 2022
Conference date: September 2022
Gran Paradiso National Park is one of the oldest protected areas in Europe and has had a primary role in the recovery and conservation of the Alpine ibex. In the XIX century, the Alpine ibex was on the brink of extinction due to over-hunting. The only remnant population at the time consisted of less than one hundred individuals and was found on the massif of Gran Paradiso. The area was declared a Royal Hunting Reserve in 1856 by Vittorio Emanuele II and hunting was forbidden. Thanks to protection laws and active surveillance the Alpine ibex was saved from extinction. The hunting reserve of Gran Paradiso was finally donated to the Italian state and declared as a National Park in 1922. In the following years, a huge conservation effort with several reintroduction programs brought back the Alpine ibex to its original range encompassing an alpine arc with a count of more than 50,000 individuals distributed in c. 180 populations. Although a long time has passed since the initiation of the Alpine ibex recovery, it is still one of the most successful conservation stories worldwide.
Since the beginning, the conservation and management of the Alpine ibex have been accompanied by a deep interest of the scientific community to employ the species as a model for the investigation of a broad range of questions, both theoretical and applied to conservation and management. This has allowed the establishment of a virtuous circle that integrates scientific research into conservation and management and, in our opinion, acts as a model for other species.
Over time, it has become clear that as research and technology move on and knowledge accumulates, new questions arise while researchers and managers face exciting and urgent challenges. To answer these questions a narrow research perspective is no longer sufficient, rather a multidisciplinary approach is required. We believe that this is valid not only for the Alpine ibex but also for other ungulate species, spread all over the mountain ranges in the world, and it is with this aim that we are pleased to organize this conference.
The Gran Paradiso National Park will host the Conference as part of the celebrations for its 100th anniversary of the foundation and we will be pleased to welcome researchers, students, wildlife managers, government agencies, NGOs, hunting associations and anyone else interested in mountain ungulates from all over the world.
As in the spirit of past editions, the aim of the 8th Conference on Mountain Ungulates, will be to share the most recent and interesting results of mountain ungulate research and provide opportunities to network with researchers and wildlife managers from the mountain ungulate community. Several topics will be covered, including ecology, behavior, genetics, systematics, palaeontology, pathology, conservation and management, with the ambitious aim of enhancing the integration of different research fields and connecting them with management and conservation.
More details on the conference will be spread via the newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Caprinae Specialist Group as well as through other media. The provisional schedule includes the following timeline:
First call: September 2021
Registration date/Abstract submission: October 2021-March 2022
Final conference programme: June 2022
Conference date: September 2022
3rd International Rupicapra Symposium!
June 16-18, 2021
Makarska, Croatia
After the 2nd edition held in Bellver de Cerdanya, Catalonia, Spain in 2013, the International Rupicapra Symposium will move to the east coast of the Mediterranean. The symposium is scheduled 16-18 June 2021 in Makarska (Croatia) in collaboration with the Biokovo Nature Park.
The Biokovo mountain range, which protects the city of Makarska from the harsh continental climate, was declared a protected Nature Park in 1981. The Biokovo Nature Park is a unique entity in that various karstic forms are present, such as phenomena in stone (valleys, sink-holes, caves, etc.), prehistoric tumuli, precipices, numerous endemic plants (Biokovo grassy bells – Edraianthus pumilio) and rare animal species (e.g., Balkan chamois, grey eagles, Balkan snow vole).
Although the presence of chamois is often associated with high-elevation mountain environments, the Biokovo Nature Park constitutes a little deviation from the "traditional" view of chamois habitat. Here, the Balkan chamois inhabits limestones peaks, with vegetation and climatic conditions typical of the Mediterranean region. Nonetheless, paleontological findings in the Baba cave have shown that the species inhabited the Biokovo area in geological times. After a drastic reduction in the past, reintroductions were carried out from 1964 to 1969 with 48 individuals coming from Čvrsnica and Prenj Mountains, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, 350 to 400 individuals of the Balkan chamois dwell on Mt. Biokovo.
In the recent years, the collaboration between the Park, the Croatian Forestry Ltd, the Croatian hunting association and the University of Zagreb has led to increased knowledge on this subspecies and, while acknowledging many questions still remain unanswered, all groups started working together to protect the Balkan chamois.
The organizing committee and the Biokovo Nature Park are happy to welcome researchers, students, wildlife managers, government agencies, NGOs, hunting associations and anyone else interested in Rupicapra from all over the world. The Symposium aims at promoting the exchange of ideas among chamois experts, favoring the sharing of state-of-the-art knowledge on different chamois species and subspecies while promoting the research, conservation and sustainable management of chamois. We aim to set the ground to bridge the gap between science and practitioners, as well as provide networking opportunities for researchers and wildlife managers. For this reason, we will try to keep the event in-person. However, the organizing committee will continue to monitor the COVID situation and the final decision about whether the in-person meeting can take place will be made at the end of April 2021. If the epidemiological situation will still be concerning, the Symposium will be converted to a fully online or hybrid event.
Different topics will be covered: genetics and systematics, physiology and disease, behavior and ecology as well as management and conservation, with contributions and presence of renowned chamois experts from all over the world, introduced by a plenary lecture by Sandro Lovari on the first day.
More details on the conference can be found on the website (http://rupicapra-symposium.agr.hr/) and on the symposium social media (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RupicapraSymp/; Twitter: https://twitter.com/RupicapraSymp).
Registration and Abstract submission are currently open on the website and the deadline is 31st January 2021.
Early bird registration fee: 17th May 2021
Final conference program: 30th May 2021
Conference date: 16th - 17th June 2021
Field trip to Biokovo Nature Park (included): 18th June 2021
Makarska, Croatia
After the 2nd edition held in Bellver de Cerdanya, Catalonia, Spain in 2013, the International Rupicapra Symposium will move to the east coast of the Mediterranean. The symposium is scheduled 16-18 June 2021 in Makarska (Croatia) in collaboration with the Biokovo Nature Park.
The Biokovo mountain range, which protects the city of Makarska from the harsh continental climate, was declared a protected Nature Park in 1981. The Biokovo Nature Park is a unique entity in that various karstic forms are present, such as phenomena in stone (valleys, sink-holes, caves, etc.), prehistoric tumuli, precipices, numerous endemic plants (Biokovo grassy bells – Edraianthus pumilio) and rare animal species (e.g., Balkan chamois, grey eagles, Balkan snow vole).
Although the presence of chamois is often associated with high-elevation mountain environments, the Biokovo Nature Park constitutes a little deviation from the "traditional" view of chamois habitat. Here, the Balkan chamois inhabits limestones peaks, with vegetation and climatic conditions typical of the Mediterranean region. Nonetheless, paleontological findings in the Baba cave have shown that the species inhabited the Biokovo area in geological times. After a drastic reduction in the past, reintroductions were carried out from 1964 to 1969 with 48 individuals coming from Čvrsnica and Prenj Mountains, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, 350 to 400 individuals of the Balkan chamois dwell on Mt. Biokovo.
In the recent years, the collaboration between the Park, the Croatian Forestry Ltd, the Croatian hunting association and the University of Zagreb has led to increased knowledge on this subspecies and, while acknowledging many questions still remain unanswered, all groups started working together to protect the Balkan chamois.
The organizing committee and the Biokovo Nature Park are happy to welcome researchers, students, wildlife managers, government agencies, NGOs, hunting associations and anyone else interested in Rupicapra from all over the world. The Symposium aims at promoting the exchange of ideas among chamois experts, favoring the sharing of state-of-the-art knowledge on different chamois species and subspecies while promoting the research, conservation and sustainable management of chamois. We aim to set the ground to bridge the gap between science and practitioners, as well as provide networking opportunities for researchers and wildlife managers. For this reason, we will try to keep the event in-person. However, the organizing committee will continue to monitor the COVID situation and the final decision about whether the in-person meeting can take place will be made at the end of April 2021. If the epidemiological situation will still be concerning, the Symposium will be converted to a fully online or hybrid event.
Different topics will be covered: genetics and systematics, physiology and disease, behavior and ecology as well as management and conservation, with contributions and presence of renowned chamois experts from all over the world, introduced by a plenary lecture by Sandro Lovari on the first day.
More details on the conference can be found on the website (http://rupicapra-symposium.agr.hr/) and on the symposium social media (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RupicapraSymp/; Twitter: https://twitter.com/RupicapraSymp).
Registration and Abstract submission are currently open on the website and the deadline is 31st January 2021.
Early bird registration fee: 17th May 2021
Final conference program: 30th May 2021
Conference date: 16th - 17th June 2021
Field trip to Biokovo Nature Park (included): 18th June 2021
