Wildlife
Lately, two animal species have particularly been talked about in the Alps: the wolf and the lynx. These two species are part of a reintroduction program whose goal is to reestablish them in the Alps. However, the king of the Alps stays the eagle. With a little bit of luck, one can see it circling over imposing summits. In his presence, marmots have more worries, they are, indeed, his favourite preys. One can observe eagles in many places during the tour: on top of the Zermatt, in the Saas valley and between Alagna and Macugnaga.
For centuries, in Valais, game has been hunted. Before, it was a mean of subsisting. Nowadays, it is regulated by the State. This is important to keep a certain control over the number of animals.
The ibex is an imposing animal of the Alps. Chamois, who are smaller and deers also live in this region. All these cloven-hoofed animals are very apprehensive towards man and rarely show themselves. Apart from these wild species, during the tour, we come across, a few of the representatives of domesticated races: horses, mules, oxes, as well as goats, pigs, cows and chickens.
Even with all of this, the hiker is far from having seen everything that populates the Alps. Glacier fleas frolic in puddles located in the ice, grasshoppers and crickets leap in the pastures, butterflies fly atound the hiker, in a dance that seems uncontrolable and birds, which are startled by quick squirrels, chirp in the trees.
