In October 2024, I attended a livestock protection conference in Salern, Italy organised by LIFEStockProtect. This is a project that receives funding from the European Union’s LIFE Programme. The goal of the project is to increase the use of livestock protection methods and decrease conflict with large carnivores. The project’s main focus is in the German-speaking region of the Alps. The project is unique as it takes a bottom-up approach, encouraging livestock owners to learn from each other and share knowledge and experience through farmers’ associations.  

The project has six key objectives:  

• Increase knowledge about livestock protection  

• Promote the use of correctly bred and certified livestock guarding dogs 

• Inform the press and general public on fact-based knowledge about livestock protection and large carnivores 

• Establish a volunteer and an ambassador network that provide practical assistance to livestock farmers 

• Improve the quality of livestock protection material  

• Decrease inconsistent legislation on compensation, protection and financing of livestock protection 

The two-day conference offered lectures, information booths and practical demonstrations of livestock protection methods. As people travelled to the conference from various countries, we were each given a headset so we were able to listen to the speakers be translated into our native language. 

Day one

On the first day, I listened to several presentations from shepherds and shepherdesses. These covered ‘How can livestock protection work?’, ‘Biodiversity through professional grazing’ and ‘Modern shepherds tell their story.’  

A final presentation was delivered by a board member from the German Sheep Breeding Association and professional shepherdess, on ‘Herd protection through changing times.’ The shepherdess discussed two key issues in herd protection: correctly maintaining the fences and a lack of people to do the herding work.

In their talk, they mentioned that livestock were occasionally predated by large carnivores. Since 2012, they have introduced livestock guardian dogs on their farm. They discussed key points about working with the dogs, such as introducing them to electric fences and managing public perceptions. The dogs have been effective: local hunters in the area still find lynx paw impressions in the snow, but no more sheep have been lost to lynx.  

Day two

The second day started with talks on livestock guardian dogs and tourism. They highlighted the importance of training the livestock guardian dogs, the shepherds on how to manage the dog and the public on how to behave around the dogs. This talk was followed by practical demonstrations outside the lecture hall. The demonstrations involved livestock guardian dogs, wildlife detection dogs, putting up predator-proof fencing, and new technology, such as sheep collars that emit ultrasonic sounds when detecting unfamiliar movements.  

I was surprised to see how friendly and sociable the livestock guardian dogs were with people. A few attendees were invited into the fenced pasture and were welcomed by the dogs. However, when the livestock guardian dogs spotted an unfamiliar dog in the distance, their whole demeanour changed into protection mode. It was fascinating to watch.  

A 140cm-tall electric fence had been set up. These are used to protect livestock from lynx in Slovenia. Lynx predation on sheep is generally low across Europe, so most prevention measures, such as these electric fences, are only put up after a farm has experienced livestock loss to lynx. All of the rows are electrified except for the bottom few, to prevent long grass from shorting out the electricity. Electric fences need to be of a certain height and design to be effective in protecting livestock from lynx.  

The day finished with a trip to visit the launch of the LIFEstockProtect ‘may safely graze’ exhibition, which celebrates the pastoralism livelihood. After two jam-packed days, there was lots to take away and lots of information for The Missing Lynx Project’s farming focus groups, which started in November 2024. The purpose of the farming focus groups is to discuss prevention measures and payment schemes and what may work in the British landscape, if the project progresses to a reintroduction.