The wolf problem in Tuscany
The wolf "knocks" on the door of the house. Sightings in inhabited centers are multiplying. The latest news stories lead us to Castiglione della Pescaia with a night "walk". Lupo in the port area and in Torniella, a hamlet of Roccastrada, still in the Grosseto area, where one specimen, after crossing the road in the early morning and luckily headed towards a group of houses without encountering anyone. But there have been many close encounters in the last period and not always without consequences as happened last April in Porcari, in Lucca, where a 50-year-old woman was bitten by a wolf in an attempt to defend her dog. A presence that is no longer discreet and rare and above all no longer confined to the mountain habitat. To denounce it is Coldiretti Toscana which returns to invoke a national plan for the management of wild species.
ISPRA counts
“Finding a wolf in front of your front door is becoming a dangerous habit. It is evident that, as with the wild boars, the balance is off. – explains Fabrizio Filippi, President of Coldiretti Toscana – In 1973 the wolf was a seriously endangered species, the specimens registered were only 100; the last census of Ispra, in 2022, counted 3.300 animals in the regions of the peninsular area with a very high probability of presence in Tuscany where it colonized almost all the suitable environments. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature it is no longer a vulnerable species and this is an extraordinary and significant result of a successful restocking project. But this growth now needs to be rebalanced”. There are almost 2.500 predation events in the region to the detriment of livestock farms in a five-year period. 500 a year. More than one a day. 7.405 animals are plundered, almost 1.500 every year, 95% are sheep according to the Ispra study. “Farmers, since time immemorial, have lived in peace with wolves. But today we find ourselves facing a phenomenon that is not managed. Predations are the main cause of the closure of many farms in our region like wild boars for traditional farms with serious repercussions on biodiversity, employment and land maintenance. We must find a sustainable balance that preserves the wolf species in purity without however representing a heavy criticality for the survival of companies and farms".
Garrison of the Mountains
The institutions - according to Coldiretti Toscana - must courageously define a national plan that looks at what other EU countries such as France and Switzerland have done for the defense of farmers and farmed animals. Responsibility is needed in the defense of farms, shepherds and breeders who courageously continue to guard the mountains and guarantee the beauty of the landscape. Without pastures - concludes the main royal agricultural organization - the mountains die, the environment deteriorates and landslides and floods threaten the cities. (Source COLDIRETTI TUSCANY)
You May Also Like ..
