Using a powerful torch, Aliki Buhayer-Mach floods the top of a nearby mountain with light, trying to see if any wolves lurk in the shadows.
If the predator were to cross the electric fence of this pasture, high in the Swiss Alps, “it would be carnage”, explains the 57-year-old biologist.
She and her husband, François Mach-Buhayer – a renowned Swiss cardiologist – are an unlikely pair of shepherds, spending the night watching over 480 sheep in this remote corner near the Italian border.
The couple are among hundreds of volunteers with the Organization pour la protection des alpages (Oppal), a Swiss NGO that focuses on cohabitation: protecting wolves, keeping them away from livestock.
“It is clear that the goal for us is that at the end of the season the livestock are still alive (…) and the wolves too”, explains to AFP the director of the ‘Oppal, Jérémie Moulin.
He co-founded the organization three years ago to try to find a non-violent response to the expanding wolf population in Switzerland.
After being exterminated more than a century ago, wolves have started to return to Switzerland in recent decades, as in several other European countries.
Since the first pack was spotted in the Alpine country in 2012, the number of wolves has now reached 250.
The corollary of this return of the predator is the multiplication of attacks on herds, to the chagrin of breeders.
Last year, 1,480 livestock were killed by wolves in Switzerland.
To respond to the anger of breeders, the Swiss authorities authorized the slaughter of 24 wolves in 2022 and relaxed the hunting rules for this protected species this summer.
But the farmers’ trade association wants more.
“On their own, wildlife wardens will not be enough to regain control over the exponential development of wolf populations to bring them back to densities suitable for bearable coexistence,” said the Swiss Farmers’ Union (USP) in a press release. .
Jérémie Moulin says he understands the farmers’ frustration, hence Oppal’s idea of relieving them of some of their work.
Up to 400 volunteers will participate in OPPAL’s monitoring program this summer, camping in mountain pastures, watching herds at night.
Aliki and François have been part of the adventure since the beginning of the NGO, twice for five days and nights.
“It’s our vacation time,” François explains, glancing over at the desolate spot where he stands guard. From Geneva, where the couple lives, it takes four hours to drive and two hours to climb a steep and rocky path to get there.
At 2,200 meters above sea level, temperatures plunge rapidly at sunset.
The lookout setup is spartan: a tarp, two camping chairs, survival blankets, and a coffee maker.
Throughout the freezing night, they take turns scanning the horizon with infrared binoculars.
A survey every 15 minutes on the lookout for the slightest sign of the predator. The sheep are sleeping, their bells ringing softly in the darkness.
“We watch frequently, and then you have to watch carefully. He knows when to take a chance. And when he moves? He moves extremely fast, he’s going 100 an hour,” says Aliki.
To keep the wolves away, “you already have to not be too scared yourself. That’s where you have to be two”, explains her husband.
“There’s one guarding the wolf with binoculars? and the other going towards the beast with the flashlight which is quite powerful” and a whistle.
“It’s quite sporty, when you go for a run up there, and you fall into the marmot holes. But it’s magic, you see shooting stars”, marvels the cardiologist.
Two nights before AFP’s visit, the couple managed to hunt wolves three times within hours.
In total, OPPAL volunteers hunted predators 32 times last year.
Shepherd Mathis von Siebenthal appreciates the effort.
“It’s such a big help,” he exclaims after handing over the herd, belonging to several breeders, to the good care of Aliki and François for the night. “If OPPAL wasn’t there, I would still be wondering if the wolf is coming or not,” admits the German. “That way I can go to sleep.”
After a long, cold and uneventful night under a sky of shooting stars, this is what Aliki and François also dream of: a good restful sleep.
30/08/2023 18:11:02 – Alpage de Pontimia (Switzerland) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP