The Colle di Fenestrelle from San Giacomo di Entracque

Le Vallon de la Barra a été choisi comme site de lâchers dans le projet de réintroduction du Gypaète barbu sur les Alpes. Exterminé (il semble que le dernier a été tué en 1913 en Vallée d'Aoste) à cause de sa taille et de la fausse croyance qui le voulait prédateur implacable d'ovins, il est revenu dans les cieux de l'arc alpin. Depuis 1986, en effet, un projet de réintroduction a uni l'Autriche, la France, la Suisse et l'Italie. Entre 1994 et 2015, sur le territoire du Parc aussi des couples de jeunes gypaètes ont été lâchées tous les deux ans (en alternance avec le parc français du Mercantour).

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), also known as the lamb vulture, has a wingspan that can reach 285cm and can weigh more than 6 kilos. An accomplished glider, it can exploit even the mildest ascending thermals. It is a carrion eater, feeding exclusively on carcasses of dead animals, ungulates for the most part, both wild and domestic. It consumes bones, cartilage and ligaments, and is known to drop bones from great heights in order to break them into manageable pieces. Monogamous and long-lived, the bearded vulture nests on rocky cliff faces at altitudes beween 1,000 and 3,000 meters.

The name Piazzale dei Cannoni, or better still, Piana dei Cannoni, is due to the presence there of the 181st Artillery Battery, armed with 210/8 mortars, during the Second World War. The mortar emplacements are just south of the dirt road, along the slope, but they are not easy to spot. On the opposite side of the valley, across the torrent, there are the remains of probable logistical outposts and even an open-air kitchen.

Colle di Fenestrelle, as well as the surrounding area, is very popular with the ibex.The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), frequents alpine meadows and rock faces even above 3000 m, reaching the valley floor (provided it is not wooded) only in early spring, to be able to refresh itself after the long winter. Both sexes have annual growth horns, but much larger in males. The coat, light beige in summer, darkens to dark brown in winter.Sedentary, grazing, it essentially feeds on grass, integrated with mosses, lichens and leaves of mountain shrubs, especially in winter.

The ruins near the pass mark the site of the Fenestrelle shelter, named for Lieutenant Angelo Bertolotti. Built in 1888 and in use until the Second World War, it could house a garrison of 10 on straw pallets. In their guidebook, entitled "La Valle Gesso", the Boggias indicate the shelter as being instead dedicated "to the memory of Angelo Bortolo, of the 1∞ Reg. of the Alpine Corps, who was killed on the Ortigara during the First World War".