Another three sheep torn in Farchant: "A madness" for the Almwirtschaft

Created: 08/17/2022, 17:36

By: Christian Fellner

Difficult path: Hans Hibler's Farchanter sheep went from Gudiberg to Gießenbachtal at the beginning of June.

Now they have to return to the valley early.

© Private

Again three sheep have been torn on a Farchanter pasture.

Some of them were still seriously injured and had to be redeemed.

The livestock farmers now bring their animals down into the valley.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen/Farchant

– Hermann Ostler has a serious fear.

And he doesn't really want to say what he's thinking.

But: "Probably something else has to happen first," says the shepherd from Stepberg.

It's crystal clear what's on his mind: politicians might react when a bear, wolf or golden jackal attacks a person, possibly even a child.

Has not happened so far, Ostler also considers rather unlikely.

And yet: "Then action would certainly be taken." A few head of cattle, on the other hand, do not seem to bother the gentlemen from politics in Munich or beyond - that is the unanimous opinion among the sheep farmers who have lost animals in the past few days and weeks .

The incidents, the sheep tears that have happened around Garmisch-Partenkirchen, represent damage. Emotionally in any case.

"It's about the entire alpine economy," complains Ostler, who is employed by the Garmisch pasture cooperative.

"If things continue like this, the entire smallholder structure will collapse." In his eyes, this would mean that the cultural landscape that characterizes the region around Garmisch-Partenkirchen would disappear.

"And that can happen really quickly."

Tragic: seriously injured, this animal had to be put out of its suffering.

© Private

After the cracks from last weekend, there was another incident on Wednesday night.

Three sheep from the Farchanter herd fell victim to an attacker and were badly mauled in some cases: "One had a knuckle ripped off, another bitten," says Hans Hibler, head of the Werdenfelser mountain sheep breeders from Farchant.

The latter was still alive and had to be redeemed.

After the second attack within six weeks, the Farchanters have now reacted: That night they took the sheep from the summer pasture down to the Reschberg meadows, yesterday they continued down into the valley.

"We don't yet know exactly what we're going to do now," says Hibler soberly.

Putting the animals down in the valley instead of up on the mountain is actually not a satisfactory option. "Because we need the feed that we make over the summer,

Sheep farmers will only know exactly how many animals were killed when they are driven down in September

Five dead animals - that is still the status of his Garmisch colleague Ostler.

Among them were two pregnant mothers who would have given birth to their offspring in four to five weeks.

The shepherd cannot say whether they are all.

"We can't count them, we would have to herd them together." He had housed around 180 sheep on the north side of the Hirschbichl, and another 200 sheep are on the Stepberg.

"If we don't find dead animals, we won't know for sure until after the abortion in mid-September whether there are still sheep missing."

So far, there are no indications as to which of the large predators is involved in the cases.

Whoever it was, wolf, bear or perhaps golden jackal - "he doesn't eat the sheep, just tears them open," emphasizes Ostler.

These attacks on farm animals probably had little to do with the search for food.

"He rushes and hunts in a frenzy of blood and then disappears." Those responsible in Garmisch had equipped two animals with cameras.

According to initial findings, however, there was nothing to see.

This animal was completely torn open.

© Private

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It was different with the colleagues from the agricultural communities – as the associations on the Tyrolean side are called.

"My son has attached two wildlife cameras," says Alfred Wilhelm, head of the mountain sheep breeders around Ehrwald.

"And the wolf could be seen on it two or three times." In the area between Gamskar and Wettersteinlift he keeps his sheep throughout the summer.

Around 90 pieces.

15 were last torn - verifiably by a wolf.

The state of Tyrol has already confirmed this.

The first incident happened there on July 10.

After that again and again.

Most recently on the first weekend in August.

There was an animal belonging to colleagues from the Oberdorf community on the Ehrwalder Alm, completely torn to pieces in the middle of the ski slope.

"It's been quiet since then.

Maybe he's moved over now," speculates Wilhelm.

There is no information about this.

The evaluation of the cases on the German side is apparently difficult.

For six weeks, Hibler has been waiting for answers from the State Office for the Environment in Augsburg, which is responsible for processing the cracks in Bavaria.

“Nothing is coming.” He and his colleagues had already lost six sheep in July between Brünstlkopf and Notkarspitze.

For those affected, one thing is clear: it must have been a predator.

Dogs, for example, would leave the animals differently.

Hibler could even imagine a bear.

"Maybe you don't want to present any results," he speculates.

In the office itself, refers to the large number of reports in recent weeks.

You have to follow them all, analyze many samples.

The last documented sighting of a wolf in June in the district of Landsberg is recorded in the authority's database.

Ostler sees a great danger for the local alpine economy in the incidents of the past few weeks.

He has sheep from around 45 different keepers in the Garmisch district up on the mountain.

“There are many who only have 5, 10 or 15.

They also say to themselves: 'I don't feed my animals all winter so that they'll eat them up in the summer'." Ostler estimates that there are still around 400 animals in Garmisch, 500 to 600 in Partenkirchen, plus around 400 alone from the Mittenwald region.

"If all of this collapses, it would be crazy, also with regard to tourism."