Page 64 - World of Animals - Issue #29

Wildlife of the Alps

The Alps

under threat

The alpine mountains are under threat from all
angles. Humans are having an impact on the
Alps due to an expansion of urban areas. With
the rise of urbanisation comes an increased
need for connective road and rail networks,
contributing to noise, light, and air pollution. All
of these can disrupt animals and fragment their
habitat, damaging their long-term survival and
reproductive success.
The mountain range is filled with thousands of

glaciers – large expanses of ice that move very
slowly downhill. The largest of these glaciers are
found at the highest elevations, with smaller ones
scattered throughout. They have been monitored
over several years using aerial photography
and are all receding at an unprecedented rate.
As the Earth’s climate changes and the global
temperature increases, the future of the Alps
will come under threat. If the glaciers melt, it will

cause flooding on a large scale and destruction
of many animals’ mountain habitats. Additionally,
as the climate has been warming, scientists have
noted that plants have been shifting their range
to further up the mountains. They are gradually
growing in higher and colder ground in an
effort to keep their surroundings at an optimum
constant temperature; this means that the animals
depending on these plants also have to move to
higher elevations to survive, pushing them into
even more extreme environments.

“If the glaciers melt, it will cause
flooding and destruction of

many animals’ mountain habitat”

Six stars of the Alps

The mountainous habitat is an unlikely refuge for a wide range of species. Meet some of the animals dependent on the Alps for survival

Moufl on Eurasian lynx Grey wolf
The mouflon is a striking species of wild sheep. The lynx was declared extinct from the area The grey wolf was once widespread throughout

They are wary creatures that keep their distance, until the early 1970s, when reintroduction the Alps but extensive hunting brought them
so you probably won’t see one up close. They are programmes began in France and Switzerland. to the brink of localised extinction in the 1930s.
thought to be the ancestors of modern sheep, Since then, lynx populations have grown and However, numbers are now increasing. The
but unlike the familiar farm animals, the males their range has increased. The cats’ powerful legs wolves are skilled hunters, with a sense of smell
have long horns compressed into a spiral shape. are adapted for leaping over large distances. 100 times more sensitive than a human’s.

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