They protect the sheep while everyone else is sleeping.

All animals are white at night. At least when you look through the thermal camera in the dark. Chiara from Blick does just that in the Alp Pontimia VS. Above 2300m above sea level. M. Shepherd Daniela Ruch takes a vigil while she rests after her day’s work.

“We do tours at regular intervals and watch out for wolves,” explains Chiara in the video. The good news: the predator does not show itself. But in the dark and on the thermal camera, he safely sees dozens of cute little sheep.

530 Black-nosed Sheep

“Tours make you forget the cold,” says Emma Cossy. The prospective kinesiology therapist is already volunteering for the second night.

If the cone of light from the flashlight sweeps through the night, 530 black-nosed sheep will appear. During the day it is about keeping the herd together, while at night it focuses on marking the human presence.

a Swiss premiere

Constant herd monitoring provides passive deterrence, protecting livestock and keeping predators away. The so-called herd protection program is a Swiss premiere brought to life by Oppal, the association for the protection of pasturelands in the Swiss Alps.

Oppal is supported by UBS Helpetica, a placement platform for volunteer work in Switzerland. “UBS Helpetica helps us gain more visibility and reach new volunteers,” explains Jérémie Moulin, director of the Oppal organisation. Volunteers are deployed for one night or more in the cantons of Valais and Vaud from June to October.

The aim is to make the coexistence of pastoralism and natural predators more sustainable. Also, encounters with shepherds like Daniela Ruch make it possible to get to know the wolf problem in Switzerland and the facts on the spot. “A unique experience”, agree Chiara and Emma. Emma Cossy even goes a step further: “I’ll do it again!”