Читать книгу The Karnischer Hohenweg. A 1-2 week trek on the Carnic Peace Trail: Austria and Italy онлайн

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Like the flowers, animals have to be capable of surviving extreme conditions, living on slim pickings. Previous visitors to the Alps will be familiar with the whistling warnings issued by a marmot leader who, spotting or smelling an interloper, tells his colony of fat meerkat-like creatures to get back into their rocky burrows. Less common and generally seen only in the distance are the chamois and ibex. Both in the past have been hunted to near extinction and both are happily in recovery. Much rarer, and warning signs suggest they should be avoided, are the brown bears whose meagre numbers are also on the increase.

The Alps are not a particularly rich habitat for birds. Most common is the alpine chough, a small hyperactive crow specifically adapted for high altitude. If you see a raptor it is likely to be a common buzzard, although there are also honey buzzards around. There are about 350 pairs of golden eagles in the Austrian Alps so if you’re lucky you might see one of them.

In addition to coping with the alpine conditions, plants and animals must also compete with agriculture and the annual cycle of transhumance, the summer grazing of sheep and cattle in the mountains. Particularly on the Austrian side of the border, but in Italy as well, the lifestyle associated with transhumance remains central to the cultural identity of people living in the mountains, and the return down the valley of sheep and cattle, which takes place in mid September, is a major event for locals and tourists alike.