Filming for livestock protection in Austria and Italy

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At the beginning of September, the European Wilderness Society team was in Tyrol and central Italy with a German film crew to shoot a new documentary by Hannes Jaenicke. The television team, accompanied by two renowned actors, will shoot a documentary about the challenges posed by the return of wolves and the protection of grazing animals. The documentary will be released on ZDF in spring 2021.

livestock protection in the Alps

The team’s first stop was in Tösens in Tyrol. The presence of eight wolves was recently confirmed here. The landscape in Tyrol is characterized by steep mountain slopes on which intensive livestock farming is still practiced. Many farmers have one or more herds of animals consisting of sheep, goats and cows. These spend most of their time on the mountain pastures during the summer season. Due to the presence of wolves, it is important that farmers have effective measures in place to protect their animals. Together with the TV crew, we filmed how local farmers use different methods to achieve this.

Research in Italy

The Majella National Park in central Italy is one of the most densely populated regions for wolves. The park, which covers an area of 750 square kilometers, is home to around 100 wolves in 10 different packs. The wolves have always lived in this area, so the locals are used to sharing their land with them. Together with the TV team, the EWS team investigated how Majella National Park, which is also one of the oldest members of the European Wilderness Network, conducts research on the wolf.

The wolves in the national park are excellent hunters, specializing in wild boar and deer. Only in rare cases do wolves hunt sheep or goats, usually due to insufficient protection. The researchers working in the national park explained to us how they carry out research to better understand the interaction of wild animals with wolves. And of course many more interesting topics!