Gran Paradiso National Park, in the Graian Alps of northwest Italy, is the country's oldest national park and the place that saved the Alpine ibex from extinction. Its 703 km² climb from beech and oak woods to blue tarns, glaciers and the 4,061 m summit of Gran Paradiso itself, the only mountain over 4,000 m that lies entirely within Italy.
From royal hunting reserve to Italy's first national park
By the 19th century, hunting had wiped out the Alpine ibex across most of the Alps; fewer than about 100 animals survived, in and around the Gran Paradiso massif. In 1856 King Vittorio Emanuele II declared these mountains a royal hunting reserve, to save the dwindling ibex. The reserve became Gran Paradiso National Park on 3 December 1922, the first national park in Italy.
The story had a setback. Between 1933 and 1947, poaching and poor management caused the ibex population to collapse again. The park was re-established by decree on 5 August 1947, with Renzo Videsott as its first director, and the herds recovered.
The Alpine ibex and other wildlife
Every Alpine ibex alive today descends from the Gran Paradiso survivors. From 1902, animals from the park were taken to Switzerland for breeding and reintroduction, and by 2015 the Alps held more than 55,000 ibex, over 16,000 of them in Italy.
- Ibex: males carry ridged horns 69–98 cm long; the animals live between about 1,800 and 3,300 m, and the rut takes place in December and January.
- Other mammals: chamois, alpine marmots, ermine, wolves and lynx.
- Birds: golden eagles nest on the rocky ledges.
Bring binoculars and watch from a distance: giving the animals space lets you see their natural behaviour.
Landscapes through the seasons
The park straddles two regions, the Aosta Valley and Piedmont, and its two sides feel different. The wetter Piedmont valleys are wooded with beech, while the drier Aosta side has more downy oak. Above the treeline come alpine meadows, lakes and glaciers.
Summer brings wildflowers and open high trails; autumn turns the woods gold; winter covers the basins in deep snow. Near Cogne, the Paradisia Alpine Botanical Garden displays about 1,500 plant species.
Climbing Gran Paradiso and visiting the park
John Cowell made the first ascent of Gran Paradiso in 1860. Go with a mountain guide unless you have high-alpine experience and the right equipment for glaciated terrain.
Across the border, the park adjoins France's Vanoise National Park. The two parks have cooperated since 1972 and together manage the ibex herds that move between them with the seasons. For visitor centres, trails and current rules, start with the park’s own visitor and conservation information.
For an Alpine city base, explore Innsbruck, or see the mountains through another lens in Lukas Furlan’s French Alps gallery.
No comments