The comparison with wild boars
“In recent years, the damage caused by deer has exceeded the damage to crops caused by wild boars in many inland areas. Even from data on the monitoring of cervid populations in Abruzzo the presence of more than double the number of animals emerges compared to that of 2018 in absolute terms, forcing operators in the sector and agricultural associations to ask the Abruzzo Region more and more insistently for a clear position to combat the problem". This is what the Vice President of the regional council with responsibility for Agriculture, Hunting and Fishing, Emanuele Imprudente, declared on the sidelines of the council meeting which saw the approval of the "Regional hunting calendar for the 2024-2025 season for the exercise of harvesting in the form selection of the deer and the related killing plan distinguished by sex and age classes".
The damages in economic terms
In the period 2019-2023, the damage caused by deer to agriculture amounted to 895.340 euros, to which will be added those in 2024 which will bring the sum well over one million euros. In addition to damage to crops, road accidents caused by deer have increased (equal to 806 reported in the period 2019-2023), often causing damage to humans which makes it necessary to adopt adequate countermeasures in order to safeguard the safety of those who guide and the people being transported. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that even during 2024 there will already be numerous reports of impacts between cars and deer on the roads of Abruzzo. After over 3 years of feasibility studies, censuses and monitoring carried out in the area, in close collaboration with wildlife technicians also from other Regions and after the positive opinion on the Deer Management Plan 2024-2025 by the Higher Institute for the Protection and Environmental Research (ISPRA), the data have highlighted in some areas the very high density of the "deer" species in Abruzzo and the need to intervene with its faunal control, as already foreseen for many years in many Italian regions, with the aim to rebalance the fauna with activities to contain species in excess of the population.
Conservation principle
“This activity becomes necessary when compliance with the principle of conservation of the species within the natural trophic chains is no longer guaranteed spontaneously (naturally) – explains Vice President Imprudente – and the objective is the management of the fauna present in the ecosystem within equilibrium levels compatible with other biological and anthropic components. As an important "secondary" effect, by rebalancing the population, a greater ability to combat damage to crops and the risk of personal safety due to road accidents is produced". Only specially trained and certified subjects, the "selecontrollori": hunters with specific qualifications and titles that allow them to practice this particular hunting activity, are expressly responsible for "selective harvesting (selection hunting)". To become a selective controller, you must first participate in a specific course, during which both the fundamentals of the animal species (generally ungulates) subject to selection hunting and the methods for carrying out the same are taught. At the end of the course, the aspiring selective controller takes an exam to obtain the qualification to carry out selection hunting.
The role of selector controllers
The selective controller essentially has the task of culling a specific wild species that has previously been monitored in an established geographical area, in which demographic imbalances could arise due to excessive population growth to the detriment of other animal species. The activity of this "special" hunter is managed and governed by a rigorous protocol that regulates every activity and every selecontroller must be registered in the appropriate register. The selecontroller therefore becomes an integral part of a precise wildlife plan with which we want to maintain (and in some cases recreate) a perfect natural balance in wildlife. Fundamental is the study carried out on the basis of the censuses which exactly identifies the number of animals collected by sex and age group, therefore absolutely NOT in an arbitrary, random and indiscriminate way but scientifically and, indeed, selectively.
The deer harvest plan is authorized only for Districts 1 and 2 identified by the Wildlife Hunting Plan in which the expected threshold value has been exceeded and sets an absolutely prudent sampling percentage, equal to 10% of the minimum consistency ascertained in the same districts.
Conservation and protection
According to the dgr, from next October 14th to March 15th the harvesting of deer will begin exclusively in the 2 regional districts included in the territories of the ATC Avezzano, Sulmona, Subequano, L'Aquila and Barisciano and outside the protected areas and areas adjacent to them: ISPRA itself, a scientific and technical research and consultancy body for the State, the Regions and the Provinces, expresses a favorable opinion for the Deer on the sampling plans proposed for management areas 1 and 2 and, in particular points out that "The periods proposed for the collection of deer are consistent with the indications provided by this Institute and with the eco-ethological characteristics of the species". “We have taken into account every aspect of conservation of the species and protection of ecosystems by adopting the prescribed measures on animal welfare – Imprudente specifies -: only non-toxic ammunition without lead content can be used and possessed and the weapons used must be subject to annual calibration which ascertains the type of non-toxic projectile used".
Overpopulation to deal with
The aforementioned collection of deer in the Districts establishes the number of animals collected by distinguishing by sex, age class and district (District 1, 276 animals; District 2, 193 animals) and establishes the establishment of control points for verification of the correspondence between the assigned leader and the killed leader, the detection of biometric measurements and possible collection of biological samples under the direction of the competent health authorities. “We believe the start of deer containment – concludes Imprudente – is an important measure to address the overpopulation of this species in internal areas and inaugurate a virtuous and effective path primarily in favor of the protection of natural habitats and all wild populations present, but also to support hundreds of farmers in the internal areas and all citizens and motorists from Abruzzo and beyond" (source: Abruzzo Region).
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