The Amazing Animals of the Alps

Despite tourism and human settlement, the Alps remain wild, untamed countryside. Just a short distance from the alpine villages, where hiking trails and ski pistes peter out, the habitat of the wild animals begins. This is not by chance, but by design: the intact habitat is the work of people who live side-by-side with the animals and work to protect them. Whether they do this because of idealism or financial self-interest, the effect is the same. Three 46-minute films about chamois, ibex, capercaillies and grouse, as well as the lives of red deer, feature the spectacular footage captured by the Styrian nature filmmaker Klaus Illitsch and the Bad Gastein hunter Thomas Tscherne over months of challenging work. The footage from this wild countryside is complimented by stories that show to what extent the lives of humans and animals remain intertwined to this day. Commissioned by SERVUS TV. Additional camerawork: Klaus Achter, Mike Fried, Josef Neuper.