[Music] wolves are a protected species in Europe after being driven to Extinction there in the 19th century they started to return to Switzerland about 10 years ago and have begun colonizing again the problem is that wolves sometimes attack sheep the Swiss government spends 800,000 Franks a year on herd protection and subsidizes the use of dogs to drive away wolves but the dogs also drive away to tourists hence the introduction of a more gentle alternative the Llama this is Shakespeare who's spending his second summer with 120 sheep he's one of 12 llamas taking part in a
pilot project to guard flocks he protects the herd whether he can protect it from predators is the big question but he looks after them like a nanny this position is typical for a watching llama his ears are cued and move slightly to catch what's going on none of the llamas have yet encountered a wolf if they do how will these furry Giants react he makes an alarm call that goes like this then the Sheep gather around him he positions himself between the herd and the Intruder and if the Llama really encounters a predator he starts
spitting if that's not enough he stamps his front ho there's no question of completely replacing protection dogs which are widely used but llamas cost less to maintain and don't scare away tourists although they may spit he SP once when we were trying to treat him for something that really annoyed him we have many questions but not many answers we think we can use llamas with groups of 20 to 50 sheep in restricted areas llamas could also be used to protect goats but dider Blanc says it's proved more difficult for llamas to bond with goats than
sheep the Llama didn't really know where he stood and the goats were stressed out they bunched together in a corner of their enclosure American studies show flock damage by Predators is radically reduced when llamas are on patrol but only time will tell whether they prove as effective as their more costly four-legged friends
