District - Grouse are tough in themselves.
So they don't mind cold temperatures or rough terrain;
and when it comes to food, too, the animals, whose best-known species include the capercaillie, black grouse and ptarmigan, are rather insensitive.
Even nutrient-poor needles and buds are enough for them to get over the long high mountain winter.
There is one point, however, that grouse are extremely sensitive: when they mate.
They can only reproduce on two days a year.
If they are disturbed during courtship, the oven is out - and the couple will have no offspring for this year.
The consequences can be life-threatening because grouse populations have been decimated in recent years.
Grouse have become rare in the Mangfall Mountains
Even in the Mangfall Mountains, where the animals used to be numerous, you can often only see them in pictures today.
For example, on the information boards that representatives from the District Office, Schliersee Forestry Operations, the State Office for the Environment (LfU) and the Mangfall Mountains Regional Office have set up in sensitive areas in the mountains and on the hiking parking lots.
The signs are intended to point out day-trippers and mountain sports enthusiasts to the bird breeding season and the corresponding rules in the protected area, in order to enable the grouse to reproduce undisturbed.
Retreat areas are becoming smaller
According to the Federal Nature Conservation Union, the grouse is one of 7000 endangered animal species in Germany.
Ever smaller areas of retreat have caused the population to shrink threateningly, reports the district office.
And further: "If the extraordinary biodiversity in the Mangfall Mountains is to be preserved, recreation seekers and nature lovers from near and far have to pull together." It is important to preserve the population and especially to protect reproduction.
The Mangfall Mountains as a European bird sanctuary offer the best conditions for numerous chicks.
This should not be jeopardized by man-made disturbances.
Courtship at dawn
The grouse breeding season begins on April 1st and ends on July 15th.
The animals court in the early hours of the morning.
On the new notice boards, nature users are asked to stay on the paths, to behave calmly, to leash dogs and not to enter the designated areas between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Bivouacking and camping in the great outdoors and the use of drones in the protected area are generally prohibited all year round.
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our new, regular Miesbach newsletter.
