At the beginning of 2021, the whole Garfagnana was affected by heavy snowfall and even in the Bieri Wildlife Center the snow fell copiously.

The OTI of the Biodiversity Carabinieri Department of Lucca already had to face the emergency since New Year’s Eve to safeguard first of all the partridges still present in the aviaries and subsequently the structures that house them, including the coverage networks of the aviaries themselves.

During the first snowfall, from 22:00 onwards, two workers together with the foreman began operations to shake the snow from the roofing nets of the aviaries, which ended at 02:00.

On the night of the Epiphany, the second snowfall occurred at low altitudes and also on this occasion the workers organized themselves in shifts to be present in the Center of Bieri 24 hours a day until the end of the snowfall on 7 January.

The workers gave their availability even on holidays, often along roads not yet cleaned by the snowplow. In addition, the last stretch of road to access the Center is not entirely paved, and is narrow and winding. In this last stretch, due to the large amount of snow accumulated on the trees, many plants have fallen. The workers, therefore, had to clear the road of plants and in some cases even shovel the snow to maintain accessibility to the Center.

In Bieri there are 10 aviaries: 4 have been freed from the animals, but must still be supervised in case of snow, while the remaining 6 still house the animals. There were times when the operators could not finish the tour of the 6 aviaries with animals that already had to start all over again because the snow was falling from the sky without a respite.

The continuous presence and availability of the workers, the organization of the foreman and the clearance from the Commander of the Department to the possibility of working continuously and extraordinary have allowed us to keep our precious animals safe.