Samartina: First Snow Falls as Herders Stranded in Summer Pastures Due to Disease Outbreak

Autumn for the rest of the country, winter in the mountains of northern Greece. That’s where the first snow has fallen earlier than usual, catching transhumant shepherds and their flocks at high altitudes due to an ongoing animal disease outbreak. Because of the epidemic, shepherds haven’t yet received clearance to move their animals down to lower winter pastures, leaving them stranded in summer grazing areas as winter sets in. In the mountains of Samartina, shepherd Vasilis Anthoulis is tending several thousand sheep amid the snowfall. “Normally at this time we’d already be heading toward the pastures of Thessaly… We used to walk there, arriving in ten to fifteen days,” he told epiruspost.gr. This year, he remains stranded in the highlands, and it’s likely the animals will have to be transported by truck. “We woke up to snow, and now, almost midday, temperatures are three degrees below zero,” he said, expressing concern over the mounting difficulties posed by the harsh weather conditions.