As of: January 29, 2024, 4:14 p.m
By: Sophia Lother
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Researchers observe two groups of ibexes that suddenly exhibit strange behavior - and find answers.
Alps – The steep, barren landscape of the Alps is its home: the Alpine ibex can find its way even on the most rugged slopes.
It climbs dizzying heights seemingly effortlessly in search of food.
According to the German Wildlife Foundation, it was almost extinct in the 19th century.
The population in Europe now stands at 52,000 animals, around 800 of which are in Germany.
Currently, it is no longer just the ibex population that worries experts.
Instead, it is the behavior of the Alpine animals that is giving scientists pause.
Because: The animals suddenly changed their habits over a relatively short period of time, as the researchers revealed in their study, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Biology.
And the Capricorns did that, even though it put themselves in danger.
The behavior of ibexes in the Alps is currently causing researchers great concern.
© imagebroker/Imago
Study on ibexes in the Alps makes you sit up and take notice: animals suddenly change their behavior
In their study, the experts observed a total of 47 ibexes in two protected Alpine regions.
They noticed that on hot days the animals suddenly became significantly more nocturnal.
This poses several problems.
Apparently to escape the heat, the animals went looking for food later.
However, this coincided exactly with the time when the wolf begins to look for food.
The experts actually had a hypothesis that the animals would behave differently in wolf regions, but that wasn't the case.
The animals seemed to take the risk in order to be able to search for food in cooler temperatures.
The fact that the ibexes, as diurnal animals, have greater problems navigating the steep Alpine terrain and find their food much more difficult did not stop them from becoming significantly more nocturnal when temperatures are high.
This poses several problems for the animals and research.
This increases the risk of being killed by predators such as wolves.
In addition, the researchers fear in their study that the more difficult search for food and the lower range of motion can pose a threat to the ibex population in the Alps.
In addition, increasing nocturnal activity is making it increasingly difficult for experts to record the actual number of animals.
Rising temperatures due to climate change could threaten efforts to rebuild the animal population in the Alps.
The ibex thus joins the sad list of animals that are endangered by climate change.