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DECEMBER 2007                               Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata - APPENNINE CHAMOIS Abruzzo - ITALY                         MEETING ON THE RIDGE. In a beautiful sunny day, after a heavy snowfall at 2000 meter altitude, I met this male of chamois. Apennine chamois are the endemic mammals that live in Italian central apennine. To me, their coat is the most beautiful of this species, expecially in winter, when it becomes dark earlier than in the warm season, with guard hairs measuring 4-8 inches / 10-20 cm long covering a wooly underlayer. That day it was very hard to climb. Everywhere around me, a deep blanket of snow without any footprint ahead... I moved slowly and took a lot of time to reach the top where they stayed.