Species control plan
The measures to stem the wild boar emergency in Molise are marking time. As Coldiretti Molise sent a new letter to the Prefect of Campobasso, His Excellency. Dr. Michela Lattarulo, to know the state of the art regarding the drafting of the "Wild Boar Control Plan", requested from the Region by the Extraordinary Commissioner for African Swine Fever, Dr. Vincenzo Caputo, during the meeting held in the Prefecture in Campobasso last November 27th. On that occasion, in addition to the Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Salvatore Micone, the President of the Province of Campobasso, Giuseppe Puchetti, the Regional Delegate of the ANCI, experts from ISPRA, the Head of the Veterinary Service of the Department of Disease Prevention 'ASReM, as well as an officer from the Molise Forestry Carabinieri, and representatives of the CIA and Confagricoltura.
Very serious risks
In the letter that the Regional Director of Coldiretti Molise, Aniello Ascolese, sent to the Prefect, the Organization recalls that in that meeting "the risks emerged, in all their gravity, linked to the uncontrolled increase of wild boars on the regional territory which, for today, they can be quantified at around 40 thousand specimens; a number that is far away – Ascolese underlines – from the two animals per square kilometer indicated for maintaining the balance of the ecosystem”. “The overpopulation of these wild animals – continues the Director of Coldiretti – also exponentially increases the risk of propagation of Psa (African swine fever), of which they are the main spreaders”.
The appeal to the Prefect
Precisely for this reason, Commissioner Caputo invited the Molise Region, represented by the regional councilor for Agriculture, Salvatore Micone, to quickly draw up a control plan for the species. “For his part – recalls Ascolese – Councilor Micone assured the commitment of the regional government, but after two months nothing is still known about the document in question, with all due respect to farmers and breeders who continue to suffer damage from these ungulates, with the risk that the spread of ASF would cause enormous damage to livestock farming in our region, as well as creating heavy restrictions on the free movement of people". Given the emergency situation that has arisen, Coldiretti asks the Prefect for "his authoritative intervention so that each of the subjects participating in the meeting, each with their own skills, can report on the state of completion of the activities that had been highlighted in relation to the problem in question". discussion" (source: Coldiretti Molise).