Drama in Italy: A farmer fights for the lives of his sheep – and even rents a helicopter to do so. It’s about a delicate rescue mission in the mountains.
Val Masino – An animal drama has been keeping Italy in suspense since the weekend. In the tranquil Italian town of Val Masino in the province of Sinners, a farmer is desperately fighting for the lives of his sheep. Some of the animals have been waiting for days on a rocky outcrop in the area of the Cima del Cavalcorto, which is over 2,700 meters high. They were apparently fleeing there from a predator. According to individual media reports, it could be a wolf. The sheep owner, Stefano Villani, wants to save his sheep at all costs – and is now even privately renting a helicopter to do so.
Villani is well known in the region and gave up his job as a bricklayer a few years ago and became a farmer in the high altitudes around Val Masino. He was recently honored for his work at the regional “Green Oscars”. Together with his partner, he now looks after 250 sheep, 70 cows, 80 pigs and ten donkeys Corriere della Sera reported. However, a large part of his flock of sheep was in dire straits last Friday.
Farmer in Italy fears for his sheep – delicate rescue mission in the Alps
Possibly out of fear of a predator, several of his sheep fled. Villani was able to bring many of the animals that were at lower altitudes safely back to the valley on the night from Saturday to Sunday together with an experienced mountaineer. However, a large number of the animals ended up on a rocky ledge from which they can currently neither move forward nor back. Particularly tragic: 20 of the animals, mainly ewes and lambs, are said to have already fallen into the dump. Villani is now fighting for the lives of his animals using all means possible.
The fire brigade from Malpensa, which was called to help, has already used a helicopter to attempt to rescue the sheep from their unfortunate situation twice using a cable winch. However, the actions did not lead to success. On Saturday the rescue operation was canceled due to fog. For Villani, however, there is no reason to give up. Without further ado, the farmer rented a private helicopter to take the remaining animals – loudly La Republica Around 80 sheep are still stuck – they can be saved.
Sheep stuck on a ledge in Italy: farmer rents private helicopter for rescue
Together with mountain guides, the helicopter was supposed to take Villani to the ledge with the animals. They want to try to “attach ropes to lower us down and then drive the herd through the narrow gorge that leads down to the pass,” he explains Corriere della Sera. He gets help from experienced mountaineer Luca Maspes.
Villani risks a lot for the spectacular rescue operation. The helicopter rental would cost him a whole season’s worth of income, he explains. For him, however, “a rescued sheep is worth more than any profit.” The success of the campaign remains to be seen. However, the clock is ticking. It is expected to get colder in the region from Wednesday, and weather conditions are not expected to improve, according to forecasts.
Further south in Italy, concerns about a supervolcano continue to grow – there has been another strong earthquake. (han)
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