Swiss Review 6/2020

Swiss Review / November 2020 / No.6 13 MIREILLE GUGGENBÜHLER Stockhorn mountain in the Bernese Oberland rises 2,190metres above sea level – the highest elevation for miles around and a magnet for hikers, climbers, paragliders and snowshoe enthusiasts. If formermanaging direc- tor of the Stockhorn cableway Alfred Schwarz has anything to do with it, the Stockhornmassif will soon also be home to the Alpine ibex. The Freunde des Stockhorns (Friends of the Stock- horn) association and the canton of Berne hunting inspectorate are plan- ning to reintroduce the mighty mam- mal. “Wewant to return the ibex to its old habitat,” says Schwarz. Ibexes were indeed roaming the Stockhornmassif 200 years ago. From the Middle Ages, these elegant and hardy extreme climbers were popu- larised as the embodiment of rude health. The ibex was an admired, much sought-after animal, whose every body part (almost) was said to havemedicinal powers. Ibex remedies were once all the rage. Yet ibexes were also killed for their meat. Hunting them became a lucrative business. Intensive hunting and extensive deforestation made life difficult for the “mountain king”, as did the prolif- eration of pastures at increasingly high altitudes. Somuch so that the an- imal disappeared fromthe Swiss Alps altogether. Its fate sounds strangely fa- miliar. The last Swiss ibex was shot in Valais in 1804. A handful of surviving ibexes took refuge over the border in northern Italy, subsequently enjoying protection from the then King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, whose gamekeep- ers carried out their duty with vigour. Meanwhile, it took grassroots ac- tion to champion the animal’s cause in Switzerland. The Swiss Hunting Act of 1875 laid the ground for the reintro- duction of the ibex, yet politicians did little to follow up with concrete meas- ures. Private initiatives ultimately got the ball rolling instead – first in the canton of St. Gallen, then shortly after in the canton of Grisons. Ironically, the same poachers who had wiped out ibexes now played an important role in re-establishing them – smuggling young animals from Italy into Switzerland on behalf of a hotelier. “One ibex was worth up to 1,000 francs, which is equivalent to the cost of a mid-range car in today’s money,” says Hans Lozza, spokesman of the Swiss National Park in the can- ton of Grisons. Emblematic mountain dweller But what was the motivation behind reintroducing the animal into Swit- zerland? Lozza believes that emo- tional factorswerekey. “Peoplewanted to make amends for what had hap- pened.” Tourism also played a part, “particularly in the canton of Grisons, whose coat of arms bears an ibex,” he says. Conservationwas less of an issue. “Environmentalism hadn’t really taken off in those days.” Around 300 ibexes now live in the Swiss National Park. However, ibex numbers have also grown steadily elsewhere in less-protected areas ever since the first reintroduction meas- ures began in 1920. Last year, some 18,500 ibexes were counted around Switzerland, spread over various col- onies in the Alpine cantons. The thorny issue of resettlement The ibex is one of several animal spe- cies that were wiped out in Switzer- land and have returned in recent dec- ades, either of their own accord or through human assistance. Wolves and sporadically sighted bears are the best-known and most controversial returnees. Both simply wandered back into Switzerland. However, bea- vers and lynxes – like ibexes – were proactively resettled. Whereas the ibex found its way back into Switzer- land illegally at first, the beaver and lynx owe their reappearance to the work of conservationists and their po-  A remarkable sight in the Spöl Valley (canton of Grisons) – a line of people carry heavy boxes containing some of the ibexes that were reintroduced into the Swiss National Park in 1920. Photo: SNP / archive, 1923 A female with off- spring in the Swiss National Park – higher temperatures are driving the ibex further up the moun- tains. Photo: Hans Lozza