New species in Carinthia

“We are in the middle of tick season”

Anyone who thinks tick season starts with high temperatures is very much mistaken - because we've been in the middle of it for a long time! We spoke to a biologist to find out why ticks are now also present in winter, what they can withstand and which new species has taken up residence here!

"Because climate change means there are only mild winters nowadays and the colder months are limited to December and January due to the time axis shift, it has become normal for ticks to wake up from their winter torpor as early as February. As they hibernate in the ground, high sub-zero temperatures are no problem for the animals thanks to the protective snow cover," explains Carinthian biologist and managing director of ÖKO Team Christian Komposch in an interview with Krone.