Mark Cocker

The Karakachan sheepdog is a match for any bear – but not for modern society

The fearless breed, descended from the Molossus of Epirus described by Aristotle, may soon disappear from Central Europe, along with the flocks it guards

The Karakachan dog is fearless in fighting wolves and bears in defence of its owner and livestock. [Alamy] 
issue 06 July 2024
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  • Anima: A Wild Pastoral

    Kapka Kassabova

    Cape, pp. 384, £22

Kapka Kassabova is celebrated for her poetic accounts of rural communities dwelling at the margins of modernity, but also along a border zone in the southern extremity of her native Bulgaria. In her previous book, Elixir, her chosen people were the Muslim Pomaks of the Rhodope Mountains, with their ancient herbalist traditions.

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