Lo stambecco è, insieme al gipeto, l'animale più rappresentativo del Parco delle Alpi Marittime ed, in particolare, della Valle Gesso.
Dopo un serio rischio d'estinzione in tutto l'arco alpino, quest'ungulato agli inizi del Novecento è stato reintrodotto in Valle Gesso sul ordine del re Vittorio Emanuele III, grande appassionato cacciatore, con lo scopo di arricchire la sua Riserva Reale di caccia.
Grazie, poi, a migrazioni spontanee e successivi interventi ora gli stambecchi sono tornati a ripopolare le montagne delle Alpi Marittime.
Sebbene gli stambecchi prediligano vivere ad altezze elevate, nascosti su pareti rocciose al limitare della vegetazione, in primavera scendono verso il fondovalle per riprendersi dalla dura stagione invernale. Ed è proprio questo il periodo migliore per incontrarli in Valle Gesso, soprattutto se si percorre il sentiero che porta al Rifugio Ellena-Soria luogo particolarmente facile per l’avvistamento sempre emozionante di questi schivi animali, re delle Alpi.
The Ibex in Gesso Valley
The ibex is, along with the bearded vulture, the animal most representative of the Park of the Maritime Alps and, in particular of the Gesso Valley.
After a serious risk of extinction in the Alps, this ungulate in the early twentieth century was reintroduced in Gesso Valley on the order of King Vittorio Emanuele III, avid hunter, in order to enrich his royal hunting reserve .
So, thanks to spontaneous migrations and subsequent interventions, now the ibex are returned to repopulate the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes.
Although ibex like to live at high altitudes, hidden by rocks at the edge of the vegetation, in the spring they go down to the valley floor to recover from the hard winter season. And this is the best time to meet them in Gesso Valley, especially if you follow the path that leads to the mountain hut Ellena-Soria , place particularly easy for exciting views of these shy animals, considered the King of the Alps.
The ibex is, along with the bearded vulture, the animal most representative of the Park of the Maritime Alps and, in particular of the Gesso Valley.
After a serious risk of extinction in the Alps, this ungulate in the early twentieth century was reintroduced in Gesso Valley on the order of King Vittorio Emanuele III, avid hunter, in order to enrich his royal hunting reserve .
So, thanks to spontaneous migrations and subsequent interventions, now the ibex are returned to repopulate the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes.
Although ibex like to live at high altitudes, hidden by rocks at the edge of the vegetation, in the spring they go down to the valley floor to recover from the hard winter season. And this is the best time to meet them in Gesso Valley, especially if you follow the path that leads to the mountain hut Ellena-Soria , place particularly easy for exciting views of these shy animals, considered the King of the Alps.
