King

A mighty alpine ibex shows itself in full splendor. It's long and impressive horns show who is the king of the Alps. Taken with a remote camera that I positioned on the ridge path, opened an intimate and unique encounter with this imposing animal. The summit completely enveloped in fog prevents the view of the mountain panorama. Thereby this brings this powerful and majestic animal perfectly into focus .



The alpine ibex is one of the most imposing animals of the mountains. Its powerful and impressive horns, the trademark of the alpine ibex, were one of the reasons why these majestic animals were almost exterminated except for a few animals. Through successful reintroduction, about 15,000 animals now live in Switzerland again and are once more widespread in large parts of their original habitat. The Alpine Ibex and its successful reintroduction should give hope for other endangered species.



After hours of watching a herd of 12 male ibex, more fog rolled in later in the afternoon and completely covered the ridge trail. As the animals began feeding along the ridge trail after resting on the slope for a while, I positioned my camera on a small flat area and hoped the animals would pass by. One of the mature and older ibexes ran up to the camera and stopped right in front of it. Behind him, other bucks from the pack could be seen feeding on a grassy area. An encounter that I will never forget and a picture that shows the beauty of these animals with a different perspective.