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16 sheep dead, 19 missing: Alarm about wolf and bear in Tyrol – bloody start of the cattle drive

2023-05-22T03:49:41.512Z

Highlights: In the Tyrolean Lech Valley, 16 sheep were killed near the Bavarian border, 19 are missing. The perpetrators are clear to the Lechtal farmers: "Traces of a bear and wolves were discovered near the dead sheep" The province of Tyrol registered five of the cracks on 16 May, and the evaluation of the DNA and thus the identification of the predator that was to blame is still ongoing. In response, farmers have been bringing the sheep back to the valley since Thursday.



A bear is said to have torn sheep in the Tyrolean Lech Valley near the Allgäu. © picture-alliance/ dpa

Excitement about bears and wolves in the Alps. New highlight: In the Tyrolean Lech Valley, 16 sheep were killed near the Bavarian border, 19 are missing.

Weißenbach am Lech – "The cattle drive could not have started more bloodily." Christian Angerer, chairman of the Chamber of Agriculture in the Tyrolean district of Reutte, is appalled. Just over two weeks ago, the sheep farmers in the Lech Valley drove their first animals into the Schwarzwasser Valley to open the alpine season.

A wolf is also said to have killed sheep in the Außerfern. © Swen Pförtner/dpa/Symbolbild

"16 sheep were killed, 19 are still missing," Angerer told our editorial team. The perpetrators are clear to the Lechtal farmers: "Traces of a bear and wolves were discovered near the dead sheep," Angerer continues. The province of Tyrol registered five of the cracks on 16 May, and the evaluation of the DNA and thus the identification of the predator that was to blame is still ongoing.

A cunning sheep in the Schwarzwassertal (Tyrol) © Eugen Barbist

The valley with the sheep cracks leads into the Allgäu

The Schwarzwassertal begins on the north bank of the Lech and extends to the border with the Allgäu: According to Angerer, the sheep are driven to the Prinz-Luitpold-Haus near Bad Hindelang (Allgäu) in summer. "The upwelling can start earlier in the Schwarzwassertal, as the slopes are exposed to the sun and you can gradually drift up to the end of the valley," Angerer continues.

A fresh bear track in the Schwarzwassertal © Eugen Barbist

On 1 May, the Lechtal farmers had herded 750 sheep into the Schwarzwassertal. Among them are 200 sheep from the Tyrolean lowlands near Kufstein, where they have not been found for years because of the danger of wolves and bears there. But even in the Schwarzwassertal, bear tracks had already been discovered in the snow in mid-April, and a bear fell into a photo trap nearby. Now, not far from the recent cracks, the farmers found fresh tracks in the snow, which is still in the upper layers here.

This bear fell into a photo trap © in mid-April in the Tyrolean Lech Valley Walter Walch

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Sheep were brought to the Lech Valley from far away – because of wolves and bears

As a result, the alpine pastures in the Lech Valley are no longer owned by Wolf & Bär, as the latest cracks suggest. In response, farmers have been bringing the sheep back to the valley since Thursday Saturday. Eugen Barbist from Höfen near Reutte in the Lech Valley, chairman of the Außerfern sheep breeders, had already brought more than 30 sheep into the Schwarzwasser by then.

Sheep farmer Eugen Barbist brings his animals back down to the valley. © ZOOM. TYROL

He wanted to find as many more on Saturday, now he brought the first herd back into the valley. "Now I have 50 animals around my house," explains Barbist. Although he has a stable and enough food, this is not ideal for the mountain sheep adapted to the Alps.

Animals are now threatened by the butcher

Many other sheep are now threatened by the butcher: "It is much too warm in the valley, there is a threat of parasite infestation in the barn - that would border on animal cruelty," emphasizes sheep farmer Reinhard Astner from Itter near Kitzbühel to the crown, who has brought his sheep home again. "Taking the animals to the butcher now – we really don't like to do that."

For farmer chairman Angerer, one thing is certain: "Wolves and bears do not fit into our pasture landscape, they also threaten our tourism." It is not possible to fence in the sheep in the black water and have them guarded by protection dogs. The ground is too rocky to drive fence poles in. Like the other alpine farmers, Angerer is now hoping for new shooting regulations from the state, as they have already been issued twice for wolves.

New bear tracks also in Ötztal, Karwendel and Chiemgau

A bear has also struck in the Karwendel: The state of Tyrol reports a sheep kill on 13 May in the area of the Tyrolean municipality of Gnadenwald south of the Engalm and Lamsenspitze. Near Umhausen (Ötztal), seven sheep were killed by a bear on 16 and 17 May. In Bavaria, according to the Traunsteiner Tagblatt, bear tracks have now been discovered on the Baireralm near Staudach-Egerndach (Traunstein district).

It is unclear whether they come from one or two animals. The tread seals in the earth, which has been softened by the long rain, seem to be of different sizes, but this is not entirely clear. Most recently, bear tracks had been discovered in the area of Berchtesgaden and Salzburger Land.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-05-22

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