• Apennine chamois
• behavioural observations
• chamois kids
• competition
• GLMs
• Jaccard index
• maternal care
• pasture quality
• pellet group count
• spatial overlap
• suckling behaviour
• winter survival

Availability and quality of summer pasture influence body conditions of female ungulates and, in turn, the amount of maternal cares they provide to offspring. The intensity of maternal cares is strongly associated to winter survival of offspring, which is a key determinant of population dynamics of ungulates. Climate changes and the presence of competitors may affect the nutritional quality of summer forage for ungulates, reducing survival of offspring, but relevant information is very scarce in literature. I have evaluated the effects of pasture quality and competition with red deer Cervus elaphus on suckling behaviour and winter survival of Apennine chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata kids in Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. Previous studies showed a high spatial/diet overlap between chamois and re-introduced red deer, with negative effects of the latter on pastures/diet quality and feeding intensity of female chamois. Through pellet group counts and behavioural observations, I compared suckling behaviour of chamois, as well as winter survival of chamois kids across three sites with different deer density and pasture quality (July-October 2013-2014, Sites A-B: deer present at high density; “poor” pasture; Site C: deer absent; “rich” pasture). My results have showed (i) a lower probability of suckling success, (ii) a lower suckling frequency and duration, (iii) a greater frequency of suckling attempts, (iv) a lower winter survival of chamois kids, in deer-present “poor” Sites than in the deer-free-rich one. These results suggested that frequency and intensity of maternal cares were the greatest in the area, where the quality of pasture and diet of female chamois during summer was the highest one. The current Climate change is expected to affect availability of nutritious, cold-adapted plant species for chamois, with resource exploitation by red deer further depleting pasture. Both these factors are expected to affect the present and future conservation status of Apennine chamois.