"Warzi" has it relatively easy in winter. The grasshopper, which is actually called "wart-biter" and whose nickname became the mascot of the nature park, overwinters in its egg. Strictly speaking, the females lay eggs in the ground with their ovipositors during the summer. The adult insects die in autumn, but the eggs lie protected under soil and grass – and later also under winter snow. New wart-biter larvae hatch from the eggs in spring.
Other insects also have this life cycle, including wild bees and numerous butterflies and dragonflies. Amphibians, such as the critically endangered yellow-bellied toad and the adder, alpine salamanders, and various frog species, spend the winter in a state of torpor: when it gets cold, they burrow into burrows, rock crevices, and mud. Their body temperature automatically drops drastically, reducing their metabolism, heart rate, and respiration to a minimum. Amphibians maintain this sleep-like state well into spring. Marmots and bats enter a conscious hibernation with similarly restricted vital functions.
The ptarmigan turns white
Many animals in the Ammergau Alps Nature Park remain awake throughout the winter . And for them, a struggle for survival begins no later than December . The ptarmigan , whose camouflage plumage slowly changes from brown to white by the end of the year, inhabits the highest peaks and ridges at altitudes above 2000 meters. There, it hides in hollows or snow caves it has dug itself.
The animals constantly have to search for food . "In winter, they eat any plants they can find," explains nature park ranger Deniz Göcen. "Especially berries, buds, and leaves of plants that still grow at this altitude and can be dug out of the snow, such as heathers." In summer, the ranger also participates in ptarmigan observations. A speaker on her backpack plays the calls of a male ptarmigan. If a real male is nearby, it responds to the rival with a croaking call. The ptarmigan population in the nature park is very small: the rangers currently know of only three territories with a single pair. The main reason for the decline is climate change : temperatures above 15 degrees Celsius are increasingly reached in summer, even on the highest mountains of the nature park. For the ptarmigan, such heat means stress – and, in the long run, reduced breeding success.
Beware of winter protected areas
One or two stories below, in the mountain forest, live black grouse and capercaillie, other members of the grouse family. They often crouch in snow hollows and search for food morning and evening: their diet consists mainly of needles and buds. To monitor the population, a capercaillie monitoring program takes place in the nature park every three years: the most recent was last August. Rangers and volunteers from "Team Ammertal" searched 90 locations throughout the nature park for typical signs of capercaillie . "We look for footprints, feathers, and droppings," explains ranger Theresa Filbig.
Initial surveys are encouraging: Black grouse and capercaillie are becoming increasingly rare. In Bavaria, they are now threatened with extinction. Humans are largely to blame. In winter, ski tourers, snowshoe hikers, and winter walkers in the mountain forests startle the birds from a considerable distance. Fleeing requires ten times more energy than when at rest. This energy is then lacking for foraging, and repeated disturbances can be fatal for these grouse.
The nature park team therefore urgently requests all winter sports enthusiasts to avoid the designated protected areas. There are 23 forest and wildlife conservation areas and wildlife sanctuaries within the nature park. Entering the latter can even result in a fine! The protected areas and current trail closures are marked on all maps in the Outdooractive tour portal. Furthermore, the nature park's website lists numerous ski tours, snowshoe routes, and winter hiking trails that are entirely environmentally friendly.
Migratory birds are suffering from climate change.
The loss of spruce forests due to climate change is also affecting capercaillie and black grouse. In general, climate change poses a long-term threat to many Alpine species. This also affects migratory birds, such as the common sandpiper, which breeds on the gravel beds of the Ammer River in summer, as well as meadow-nesting birds from the moorland areas: whinchat, common snipe, meadow pipit, and corncrake. They all overwinter in Africa. If the planet becomes warmer on average, they will return to Europe earlier.
However, since frosty nights still occur well into spring in the mountains, such as in the Ammergau Alps Nature Park, many insects – the main food source for these birds – have not yet hatched from their eggs in sufficient numbers. Climate change is also causing less snow in the mountains with increasingly longer winters. Thick layers of snow are better for black grouse and capercaillie: they can burrow into them and protect themselves from predators such as foxes, badgers, and eagle owls. Increasingly pronounced mild and, even in the mountains, rainier weather patterns prevent such behavior, especially in snow-free areas.
The ptarmigan, its plumage already a wintery white, is then easily visible to its main enemy, the golden eagle. Several breeding pairs of this "king of the skies" live in the Ammergau Alps. This heraldic bird, with its wingspan of over two meters, tends to its nest during the winter. And even though the adult birds have to hunt less for their own food than in summer when their young are present, a cleverly camouflaged ptarmigan is welcome prey. Or an alpine hare, which, with its white camouflage, is similarly conspicuous in snow-free forests or grassy slopes. In 2025, the alpine hare was the animal of the year in Germany. It also lives in the Ammergau Alps above an altitude of 1300 meters.
Winter feeding for the red deer
Besides respecting protected areas and choosing environmentally friendly routes, winter sports enthusiasts should absolutely avoid the twilight hours in the morning and evening. This is when many wild animals, including deer, are out foraging for food. In state-designated wildlife sanctuaries, they are fed during the winter months. As in all protected areas, entry is prohibited, with one exception: In the Schattenwald forest near Graswang, the Bavarian State Forests invite the public to feeding demonstrations at 16 p.m. in January and February. It's a short walk from the Schattenwald hiking parking lot in Graswang to this special event.
A fully grown red deer can weigh up to 250 kilograms and needs up to 20 kilograms of food per day. In the past, deer migrated down to the valleys in winter to forage for food. Today, this is hardly possible due to roads, railway lines, villages, and agricultural land use. A wildlife sanctuary with inaccessible feeding stations lies directly above the Altherrenweg, the popular high-altitude trail between Oberammergau and Unterammergau, passing the Romanshöhe mountain inn. The trail itself is an official winter hiking route, signposted and cleared, but detours into the meadows and forests above are prohibited in winter. Dogs must be kept on a leash!
Climate change is altering winters in the mountains – including in the nature park.
While peaks like the Scheinbergspitze, Hochplatte, and Hochblasse were once climbed exclusively by ski tourers, snowshoe hikers are now increasingly common, and during periods of low snow cover, winter hikers are also frequent visitors. As with ski touring, these sports require appropriate winter mountaineering equipment . This includes suitable protective clothing , appropriate footwear , and, for winter hikers, crampons , as well as sufficient supplies of food and drinking water . In alpine terrain, an avalanche transceiver , probe , and shovel are mandatory. Even if south-facing slopes often have little or no snow, adjacent east-facing slopes may be covered in drifting snow – and there, avalanche danger exists . This applies even to seemingly easy mountains.
In the 2025/26 winter season, the August-Schuster-Haus, a traditional Alpine Club hut on the Pürschling mountain, will reopen for the first time in several years. Therefore, the winter ascent route, which climbs almost 700 meters in altitude from Unterammergau, will be monitored and secured. This will be made possible with significant additional volunteer efforts from the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Service and the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service. "However, beyond this, you are entering unsecured alpine terrain ," emphasizes Deniz Göcen. Anyone planning to continue from the Pürschling to the Teufelstättkopf or traverse the Kofelsteig trail to the Kolbensattel should bring their winter-appropriate mountaineering equipment or postpone the trip until early summer.
This article is from the Nature Park Magazine, issue 16. You can find the complete issue here.