Eye-to-eye with an ibexwall print

Marco had set his heart on getting a close-up of the magnificent headgear of a male ibex. It was summer, and Marco was on holiday with his father and brother in the Gran Paradiso National Park, home to about 3,000 ibex.

When he spotted this male preoccupied with grazing, he decided to try his luck and creep as close as possible. He got to within about 3 metres (10 feet) before the ibex sensed something was up. 'As I crawled behind a little hill, the ibex suddenly raised his head sharply, still holding grass in his mouth, and looked at me.'