The Alpine ibex is a sexually dimorphic species; males are larger and carry longer horns than females.

They can be found at elevations as high as 3,300 m (10,800 ft) and their sharp hooves allow them to scale the steep slopes and cliffs of their mountainous habitat.

[5] The genus Capra may have originated in Central Asia and spread to Europe, the Caucasus, and East Africa from the Pliocene and into the Pleistocene.

[6] Fossils of the Alpine ibex dating from the last glacial period during the late Pleistocene have been found in France and Italy.

[5] The Alpine ibex is a stocky animal with a tough neck and robust legs with short metapodials.

Adaptations for climbing include sharp, highly separated hooves and a rubbery callus under the front feet.

[2][5] Both male and female Alpine ibexes have large, backwards-curving horns with an elliptical cross-section and a trilateral-shaped core.

[5] The species has brownish-grey hair over most of its body but lighter in colour on the belly with dark markings on the chin and throat.

[5] The Alpine ibex is native to the Alps of central Europe; its range includes France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Germany, and Austria.

[9] Fossils of the species have been found as far south as Greece, where it became locally extinct about 7,500 years ago due to human predation.

[9] The Alpine Ibex is an excellent climber; it occupies steep, rough terrain at elevations of 1,800 to 3,300 m (5,900 to 10,800 ft).

It prefers to live in open areas,[5] but when there is little snow and depending on population density, adult males may gather in larch and mixed larch-spruce woodland.

[12] In early winter, both males and females move to steep, rocky slopes to avoid dense buildups of snow.

[16] The most-commonly eaten grass genera are Agrostis, Avena, Calamagrostis, Festuca, Phleum, Poa, Sesleria, and Trisetum.

[5] In the spring, animals of both sexes spend about the same amount of time feeding during the day, while in summer, females, particularly those that are lactating, eat more than males.

[21] The Alpine ibex's climbing ability is such that it has been observed scaling the 57-degree slopes of the Cingino Dam in Piedmont, Italy, where it licks salts.

[22] The Alpine ibex is a social species but it tends to live in groups that are based on sex and age.

During courtship, the male stretches the neck, flicks the tongue, curls the upper lip, urinates, and sniffs the female.

[5] Environmental conditions can affect courtship in the species; for example, snow can limit the males' ability to follow females and mate with them.

[17] Alpine ibexes reach sexual maturity in 18 months but continue to grow until females are five to six and males are nine to eleven years old.

[40] Ibexes can host gastrointestinal parasites such as coccidia, strongyles,[41] Teladorsagia circumcincta, and Marshallagi amarshalli[42] as well as lungworms, mainly Muellerius capillaris.

[46] By 1933, the Alpine ibex population reached 4,000 but subsequent mismanagement by the Fascist government caused it to drop to around 400 by 1945.

[45] Starting in 1902, several Alpine ibexes from Gran Paradiso were taken into captive facilities in Switzerland for selective breeding and reintroduction into the wild.

[5][9][45] In the 1890s, ibexes were introduced to Slovenia despite the lack of evidence of their presence there following the last glacial period.

[50] The genetic purity of the species may be threatened by hybridisation with domestic goats, which have been allowed to roam in the Alpine Ibex's habitat.

[51] The genetic bottleneck of populations may increase vulnerability to infectious diseases because their immune system has low major histocompatibility complex diversity.

[53] The Alpine ibex is called the steinbock, which originated from the Old High German word steinboc, literally "stone buck".

[55] The Alpine ibex is one of many animals depicted in the art of the Late Pleistocene-era Magdalenian culture in Western Europe.

[56] Local people used Ibexes for traditional medicine;[45] the horn material was used to counter cramps, poisoning, and hysteria, while the blood was thought to prevent stones from developing in the bladder.