The mountains of Europe whisper the history of the nomadic peoples who have lived there. The mountain ranges of Bulgaria are no exception. More than 5,000 years ago, the Karakachans occupied the mountains in the summer and drove their flocks of sheep to Albania in the winter in search of a milder climate. The nomadic lifestyle of the Karakachan people was long prosperous, thanks to the meat and wool market to which they contributed. In permanent transhumance, these people mixed little with their neighbours and this endogamy also applied to the animals that accompanied them: sheep, dogs and horses. These three animals thus remained close to the primitive breeds raised in the region several millennia ago. The sheep provided food and clothing, the dogs protected against predators and the horses made it easy to move around and follow the herd. A life in harmony in which everyone found their place. However, nomadism is rarely compatible with borders. The arrival of communism in the middle of the 20th century put an end to the thousands of years of transhumance of the Karakachans: the communists took a dim view of these nomads who easily crossed borders and therefore forced them to settle. The easiest way to achieve this was to kill their horses... The Karakachan community was therefore forced to establish itself and its herd on Bulgarian territory.
Photo. Village of Vlahi, at the foot of the Pirin massif
In the southwest of Bulgaria, not far from the borders with Macedonia and Greece, nestles the small village of Vlahi: 3 permanent inhabitants! On sunny days, one can enjoy a breathtaking view of the peaks of the Pirin National Park (classified by the UNESCO) a few kilometres away. It is in this remote area that we met Atila and his brother Sider, both breeders. Atila and Sider are not Karakachans. To tell you the truth, initially, the two brothers are painters, like their father. However, twenty years ago, they embarked on a rather crazy project: to breed and protect Karakachan sheep, dogs and horses from their programmed extinction. Indeed, the nationalisation of livestock breeding in Bulgaria at the arrival of communism had disastrous consequences for the Karakachan sheep population. While there were 500,000 Karakachan sheep at the beginning of the 20th century, the population fell to less than 200,000 individuals in fifty years, rapidly replaced by foreign breeds. In 2016, there were less than 2,000 Karakachan sheep, the majority of which were cross-bred.
Photo. Karakachan sheep of Atila and Sider going down to the pasture
For Atila and Sider, the objective was to reconstitute the sheep/dog/horse triptych and the task was not so simple. The two brothers set up an expedition to build up their flock from scratch, criss-crossing the mountains of Rila, Rodhopes and Pirin in search of the little Karakachan sheep. Luck led them to a first flock of 40 sheep in 1992, owned by an old Karakachan man. Unfortunately, the breeders regretted the absence of a male in the group of animals. After acquiring the ewes, Atila and Sider searched for two long years before finding the Karakachan rams that saved their project! Today, their bet is successful: the farm has 650 Karakachan sheep, including 30 to 40 rams. The number of breeding males is not limited in the flock: "We maintain competition between the rams by number. We let the strongest ones get their place, as in the wild. This natural selection contributes to the resistance of the flock," explains Atila.
Photo. Karakachan sheep at pasture
It is the end of December and lambing has begun. They will continue until February. Until the end of April, the lambs have exclusive rights to their mothers. Once they are fully grown, they are sold for their meat, for the Easter celebrations. Once the lambs are gone, the ewes' milk is collected twice a day for cheese making. The milking of the ewes ends in mid-July: the flock will then go to the mountain pastures and will only return to the village at the end of September.
Photo. Newborn lambs in the sheepfold
In winter, as long as the snow does not cover the grass, the flock goes out to graze, guided by the few shepherds employed by the two brothers. The protection of the herd is ensured by the numerous Karakachan sheepdogs that live permanently in the herd. Karakachan dogs have a large head, a massive body and thick fur that makes their appearance all the more imposing. Their courageous temperament accompanies them in battles against wolves and bears that attack the herd. Here, they are known as the "mountain lions". We won't lie to you, these magnificent sheepdogs have us a little worried ! "Considering the neighbourhood present in the village during the summer, we try to select our dogs on their docility towards humans", reassured us Atila.
Photos. Karakachan sheepdogs protect the flock
Breaking the calm of the village, behind a stone wall, bells resound. Atila opens the door of a farmhouse with typical architecture of the region (low-pitched roof, stone and wooden walls). He guides us to an enclosure housing some rather special goats: they are long-haired Kalofer goats. The exception that proves the rule, Kalofer goats are not from the Karakachan people. They are nevertheless a typical Bulgarian local breed and a national symbol! For the milk? No. For their meat? No! Kalofer goats are popular in Bulgaria for their fleece, which is used to make the ceremonial costumes of the Kukeri: masked men with imposing costumes, sometimes decorated with bells, feathers, hair, multicoloured masks... In January, the Kukeri celebrate the Earth during parades mixing dances and the sound of bells, calling for abundant harvests and chasing away evil spirits. The ritual announces spring and has remained popular with Bulgarian peasant families throughout the ages (note the strong resemblance with the Joaldun parade, celebrated at the end of January in the Basque Country).
Photos. Kalofer long-haired goats
Kalofer goat fleece is famous for Kukeri carnivals and the price of Kalofer goat skin costumes can reach up to 25,000 Lev (12,500€)! A costume requires about 6-7 long-haired Kalofer goat skins. Today, given the value of their fleece, the few Kalofer goat breeders "pamper" them: they are fed an energy-rich diet and their long hair is brushed, so that it can grow up to a metre long! For Atila and Sider, the goal is not the incredible fur of the Kalofer goat but the conservation of the breed, of which there are only 320 individuals left in Bulgaria. The two brothers own 130 of them and use the rich milk of the goats from June to September to make cheese. Despite the Kalofer's high hair growth potential, Atila and Sider's goats keep their hair relatively short: hours of walking in the bushy mountains of Vlahi keep the fur at a good size!
Photos. Kukeri in costume. Photos taken by Bulgarian photographer Evo Danchev. www.evodanchev.com - https://www.facebook.com/evodanchev
The involvement of the two artists in the maintenance of Bulgaria's ancient breed populations is a great story. In addition to the major role they have played in restoring breeds to the brink of extinction, their settlement in the mountains surrounding the village of Vlahi is breathing new life into a village that was also almost extinct. Populated by around 2,000 people a century ago, the desertification of Bulgaria's mountainous and rural regions has turned Vlahi into a ghost village. If today the previously abandoned land is coming back to life, it is thanks to a few courageous people like Atila and Sider, who have revived a small human activity to maintain a community there. "Before, each small village had a farm that provided employment and produced food for the village. This way of working kept people in rural areas. Now, remote villages are emptied of their inhabitants and the landscape is no longer valued," says Atila.
Photo. Atila and Bastien on the heights of the village
After revitalising the village of Vlahi and restoring the region's historic herds, the two men did not stop there. As part of a scientific project, a reserve was built near the farm. It accommodates wolves and bears previously held in captivity in zoos or hunting reserves. We met Vuchka, the wolf who is currently staying at Vlahi in the large park dedicated to her. Not far from the enclosures, the Large Carnivore Education Centre was created to raise awareness of this family of animals (wolves, bears, lynxes, etc.) which inhabit the territories of Bulgaria and elsewhere. It shows that you can be a shepherd, protect your flock and protect its predators! A lesson in life, which reminds us how human activity and livestock farming have been integrated, year after year, in an ecosystem shared between vital food resources and hostile natural forces.An ecosystem that Atila and Sider have reconstituted over the past thirty years in the mountains of the village of Vlahi.
Photo. Vuchka, the wolf, makes a timid appearance through the vegetation of the park
Did you know?
- Karakachan horses
At the time of our visit, the Karakachan horses of Atila and Sider were not present in the village, but were busy grazing the short grass of the surrounding mountains. In the early 1990s the breed was in critical danger of extinction. Indeed, there were only 30 Karakachan horses left. Today, thanks to a European aid programme, the number of animals in the country has risen to over 5,000. A small, stocky horse with good muscles (around 1.30 metres at the withers), very hardy, it is well adapted to the harsh life of the Balkan mountains.
- Did the kukeris not scare you? Do you want more?
Then we share with you some more nice pictures of the Kukeri in costume:
- Large Carnivore Centre
Elena, Sider's wife, runs the Great Carnivore Education Centre. This large building overlooking the valley houses a museum with a wealth of information on carnivorous wildlife. The Centre raises awareness of the wolf. A way of demystifying the animal in a country where it is greatly feared and where it is still hunted in some places.
For more information: https://facebook.com/LargeCarnivoreEducationCentreBulgaria
- Agricultural subsidies change the landscape
In recent years, many farmers in the region have switched from raising sheep and goats to raising cattle, for which the European subsidies are higher. Unfortunately, unlike sheep and goats, cattle grazing on the fragile mountainous soils of Bulgaria encourages erosion through trampling and modification of the plant species in place. This problem was also raised by the shepherds we met in Greece.
- Where to find manpower?
A major difficulty for Atila and his brother lies in finding qualified shepherds. Breeding requires several hands, especially to look after the herd, and no one wants to be a shepherd in Bulgaria any more. Everyone wants to work in front of a computer screen now. The job of shepherd is hard and the new generations are not interested. However, the two brothers manage to hire people, especially Gypsies.
- Where the souls rest
Would you like to see more about the Karakachans? Here is a photo album of this people made in the early 2000s by Simon Varsano:
- Thanks !
We would like to thank Dessislava Dimitrova for giving us a lot of informations about traditional livestock farming in Bulgaria and helping us getting in touch with Atila and Sider.
