Wild boar hunting in the Chieti area. A formal warning was sent yesterday by the ecological association Appennino Ecosistema to 43 mayors of the Sangro-Aventino Valley and for information to the Prefect of Chieti and to the State Forestry Corps. "The association disputes the reasonableness and legitimacy of the breezy ordinance proposed yesterday by the 43 mayors who, to stem the phenomenon of overpopulation of boars in the area of the eastern side of the Majella, it would allow the killing of wild boars even in protected areas ".
“It would be a question - reads the note released by the association - to allow real hunting activities, albeit limited to a single species, also in the territory of the Majella National Park, the Site of Community Interest IT7140203 (Maiella) and the Special Protection Area IT7140129 (Maiella National Park). Any disturbance (or even killing) of wild fauna and natural habitats is in fact absolutely prohibited in these areas by the European Union Habitats Directive (and related national regulations for transposition and application), by the framework law on protected areas n.394. / 1991 and by art. 733-bis of the penal code. Any derogation can be obtained only after the realization of a specific Environmental Impact Study, a specific authorization from the Ministry of the Environment and the complete control of the operations by the Park Authority.
The proposed trade union measure would therefore be absolutely illegitimate and subject to complaint or administrative appeal. But the same would also be patently unreasonable and ineffective, as it has been shown that the fertility of wild boars is considerably higher when they are subjected to high hunting pressure. When hunting is intense, in fact, sexual maturity is reached earlier, while in territories where there are few hunters fertility is lower and sexual maturity is reached later. The hunt and the selective killing they increase the population size of wild boars also indirectly: in fact, these animals have a very sensitive social structure.
A dominant wild boar only goes into estrus once a year and leads the group, as do other females in the group who are affected by it. If the dominant female is killed, the group disperses, the unguided animals break into the fields, all the females become fertile several times a year and reproduce in an uncontrolled way.
In protected areas, then, hunting and selective killing would produce a strong disturbance even against the natural predators of wild boars (such as wolves), with the result of hindering the natural predator-prey dynamics, capable of obtaining the containment of populations. of wild boars without any effort.
Furthermore, the possible use of hunting dogs would produce an even greater disturbance and increase the risks associated with stray dogs. This would certainly not be an isolated intervention, in fact in order to maintain "acceptable" dimensions of the wild boar populations it would be necessary to repeat the interventions continuously, even at short intervals, with relative and inevitable multiplier effect on the disturbance. It would be like, in practice, legalizing hunting even in protected areas.
Instead, it is necessary to promote actions to improve the state of our ecosystems: where these are well functioning, in fact, the natural balances are self-maintaining in a stationary state indefinitely, if not perturbed by man. In these areas, the populations of wild animals can undergo quantitative fluctuations over time, but in the end they spontaneously balance out due to the effect of internal and external dynamics (exhaustion of food resources, action of pathogenic organisms, etc.).
And it is necessary to develop scientifically based policies: in our Region, on the other hand, the "Guidelines for the management of wild boar in protected areas" drawn up by ISPRA have never been concretely implemented and the areas contiguous to the Parks, provided for by the Framework law on protected areas n. 394/1991, where it would be possible to manage hunting in a rational way, creating buffer zones between the Parks and the rest of the territory ”.
(September 23, 2016)
Source: MarsicaNews