ChamoisFor some people, the chamois

Chamois

For some people, the chamois is first and foremost the source of soft leather used for polishing cars, but the Swiss have hunted it since long before the days of the combustion engine. Even its position in Swiss folklore, where it often appears under the special protection of the local mountain spirit, didn't help it. By the middle of the 19th century numbers had fallen seriously, and it could have faced extinction had it not been for the introduction of a law regulating hunting in 1875. The chamois is still hunted, but within set limits: federal hunting statistics indicate that hunters shot just over 16,500 chamois in 2000.