Mountain summer

People and animals in the Alps are insecure

Tens of thousands of cows spend the summer in the mountains in Vorarlberg.

(Bild: Dietmar Mathis )

Without alpine farming, hectares of cultivated landscape would be lost in Vorarlberg. But how has the alpine season gone so far? The "Krone" asked.  

Around 40,000 animals are driven into the Vorarlberg mountains every year - accompanied by 1000 two-legged friends. The "Krone" asked Martin Rusch from the state's "Alpine farming and natural hazards" department how people and animals are faring on the alpine pastures this year. Rusch explains that the conditions were not bad at all: Although here and there the alpine herding had to be postponed due to the bad weather in spring, the initially rather meagre fodder situation then developed well. Time and again it is said that the alpine economy is in danger - but Rusch assures us that all the alps have been "stocked", as the jargon goes.

A special feature of Vorarlberg is the extremely high proportion of dairy cows on the Alps (8,300) - this is of course due to the strong focus of local agriculture on milk production. Of the 520 alps in total, 120 are so-called alpine dairies, where the famous alp cheese is produced. The Montafon specialty "Sura Kees" is produced on 13 alpine pastures.

Wolf is present
A few years ago, the summer was so dry that the meadows at high altitude literally dried up. Water tanks that had to be carted up into the mountains were not uncommon. Fortunately, water shortages are not a problem this year, but the increasingly extreme weather changes are noticeable. And something else is also noticeable: the presence of wolves, as Rusch reports. Just a few days ago, young cattle were found dead in the Bregenzerwald with their bellies ripped open, a cow fell down while fleeing from the predator, and several other animals have already been attacked by wolves this year.

What does this do to the herdsmen? "It's a burden for the shepherds when the animals they look after perish in such agony. The mood is certainly depressed", explains Rusch, for whom the killing of cattle has clearly "crossed a pain threshold". This atypical behavior of a wolf is intolerable, and the state's wolf management also provides for the removal, i.e. shooting, of wolves in such cases.

Protective measures often cannot be implemented
Incidentally, this restlessness not only affects humans, but also animals. Cows in particular are downright traumatized after wolf attacks. Rusch is not too happy with the calls for improved herd protection, as many measures that sound good simply "cannot be implemented" due to the challenging Alpine topography, such as fences that actually stop the wolf.

And so Rusch, who is in favor of moderate but regular culling, compares the wolf situation to a ticking time bomb: "No one knows when or where something will happen again."