CHUR, Switzerland (dpa) – Peter Roth looks just the way you would expect a Swiss park ranger to be: his skin is darkened by the sun, he has a snow-white beard, a pipe and a felt hat that seems rooted on his head.
The watchful eyes peering out from under the brim of his hat are so sharp they can spot any wild animal within 100 metres.“Up there! A golden eagle,” the 61-year-old ranger tells his group. Eagerly, everyone reaches for their binoculars.Golden eagles, alongside bearded vultures, are the stars of the Swiss National Park (SNP), and offer a welcome diversion from the many deer and chamois that visitors here nearly always see.Between June and October around 200,000 people visit the park every year in Grisons canton in southeastern Switzerland. It was founded in 1914, making it the oldest national park in central Europe. It is also the only national park in Switzerland.When conservationists established the protection zone at the start of the twentieth century, little was left of the original Alpine wildlife. Bears, wolves, lynx, bearded vultures and even deer were already extinct. The chamois was the only large species of animal that had survived the expansion of humankind.Since then, many of the species have returned, thanks partly to migration and partly to resettlement programmes.The nearly 20 bearded vultures that now inhabit the park, are a particularly welcome return. Anyone who sights this bird with a wing span of nearly three metres (10 feet), can count themselves lucky.The vulture, which is brown above and tawny below, with spots on the breast, black and white stripes on the head, and long bristles on its “chin”, ranges over a 250-kilometres (165-mile) radius.The SNP strives not to disturb plant and animal life here and its natural development. Ranger Roth details the most important rules with raised walking stick. Do not stray from the paths, do not pick any flowers, no dogs allowed, take all litter with you.Man is tolerated here only as an observer, even if he means well. Not even the destruction caused by the big avalanche of 1951 was cleared away, they wanted to see how nature itself would deal with the crisis.But man is not always as friendly. The inhabitants of the surrounding region last winter voted in a referendum to put a stop to the planned extension of the park. The aim had been to extend its core by 30 square kilometres and create a surrounding zone of 300 square kilometres in which only sustainable agriculture would be allowed.Proponents had argued that this would make the park more attractive to tourists.But the local community of Zernez, in which two thirds of the park’s core zone lies, rejected the project. “Absolutely nothing will now happen in the next 10 years,” said Andrea Gilli of “The Other Engadin” tourism organisation, based in Zuoz.However, a first step towards extending the park was taken prior to this referendum: the high Alpine lake landscape of Macun was added to the core zone in August 2000.The strongest opposition to the park extension came from hunters, who traditionally hold great sway in Grisons.For three weeks in September each year they have freedom to hunt in the canton. Around 6,000 people with hunting licences then set out to help fulfil the regulated shooting quotas.“The people of Grisons are crazy about it,” said Ranger Roth. “It is an old right here: everyone is allowed to shoot, whatever their social standing.”But in an attempt to stem hunting tourism, the authorities demand 13,000 francs (760 U.S. dollars) from non-Swiss residents and 600 francs (350 dollars) for Swiss to take part in the hunt. Shooting is prohibited in the national park.“If an animal falls inside the park, it must not be removed,” said Roth. So it was clear that the hunting lobby would not be in favour of extending the park boundaries.Undisturbed by this controversy, the 18,000 deer in the national park indulge in their rutting season during this period. Their roars make September a favourite month for visitors to the park. The call swells to a mighty rally in the narrow rocky valleys.Peter Roth and his group stopped every few metres to observe the territorial battles being fought out the rock walls opposite them. For every bearded vulture the group sighted, they came across 10 deer. But then, this is a national park, not a zoo.Information: The Swiss National Park offers guided walking tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 10 francs (six dollars) per person. Starting points are in Zernez, Schanf and Val Trupchun. For further information call + 41/81/856 1378.
