Dahu

A depiction of the mythical dahu

The dahu is a legendary creature that resembles a mountain goat and is well known in France and francophone regions of Switzerland and Italy, including the Aosta Valley. The dahu, a quadrupedal mammal, may have been inspired by the chamois, a small, horned goat-antelope once plentiful in European mountainous regions, and also resembles the ibex.[1]

Regional variations on its name include dahut or dairi in Jura, darou in Vosges, daru in Picardy, darhut in Burgundy, daù in Val Camonica; also called a tamarou in Aubrac and Aveyron, and tamarro in Catalonia and Andorra.[citation needed] The dahu cub is called a dahuot.[citation needed]

  1. ^ O'Shea, Stephen (21 February 2017). The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393634198.