Fauna: Liguria, the Wolves no longer have many young boars to hunt and attack the sheep to feed; all the fault of a chestnut parasite.
The wolf feeds on young wild boars, but in recent times the ungulates reproduce only once a year so predators struggle to find food. For this reason, wolves sometimes attack flocks of sheep. The Wolf prefers wild boars, not too big because hunting them would be very dangerous, but for a couple of years there are few young specimens within his reach. For this reason the wolf, "a particularly protected animal that - explains the Provincial Police of Genoa, which has been dealing with it for over twenty years - eats mainly wild boars between six and eight months, roe deer, rodents and other small mammals, now to feed it also tries to prey on domestic livestock, which in normal conditions is absolutely marginal in its diet, also causing serious damage to farmers ”.
Blame? It seems incredible, but it is from an insect: a small oriental wasp, the chestnut cinipede. This parasite, in fact, infests trees and making them sick prevents the production of chestnuts, a precious food of wild boars which, due to lack of food from the woods, have recently halved the reproductive cycle: in fact, the young are born only once a year, instead of two as in the past. Consequently, the wolves, finding few usual prey, began, as in fairy tales, to hunt sheep and lambs.
The most effective method recommended to discourage them and keep these animals protected and precious to the environment away from flocks and herds is to use herding dogs, as is the case in many other territories. While killing a wolf is a very serious crime, criminally sanctioned, as the "serial" poacher of the eastern hinterland knows well, the first case in Italy, condemned by the Court of Chiavari after a long investigation by the Provincial Police who also used to unmask him scientific methods such as the tracing of DNA on the finds found.
Wolves, which disappeared from Liguria in the 20s, were considered pests until the early 70s, when only 60 specimens remained throughout Italy. Since then, the Canis Lupus of the Italian species, different from the other eleven in the world, has begun to be protected and today there are at least 700 of them. According to estimates, about twenty live in the Province of Genoa, in five small family groups. Their number varies greatly according to the seasons because it increases with the arrival of the little ones, but 60% of the wolf cubs die in the first year of life, victims of accidents but above all of diseases. "The wolf is a very delicate animal, but also an excellent indicator of environmental quality because it needs excellent natural habitats to survive and reproduce - says the Provincial Police - as there are many in Liguria, the region with the highest percentage of wooded areas on the total territory ".
The Provincial Police, which began to deal with the wolf since its first reappearance at the end of the 80s, has been constantly engaged in data collection and monitoring of the species since 1992. Its agents (ten have also attended specific courses in the Maiella Park) work alongside the researchers, appointed by the University of Pavia - one of the two national scientific centers on the wolf, with La Sapienza in Rome - collecting data along the itineraries frequented by the wolf entered. then on the database managed by the Liguria Region in the Lupo Project of which Giovanni Diviacco is responsible. The data made available to researchers and experts are the living source of knowledge about the wolf and its biology in Liguria: Fresh droppings are also important and are collected to get news on nutrition and above all on the genetic code of each animal and the collection of DNA also allows us to better understand the movements on the national territory.
Because in addition to the 'resident' wolves there are others "in step" that following the watersheds from east to west cross the Apennines to reach the Maritime Alps and the French Mercantour. And next weekend in Genoa many important events are announced to get to know the richness of nature and the wolf proposed by May in the Parks with meetings, presentations and insights at the Calata Mandraccio of the Porto Antico. The heart of the Maggio in the Parks will be the Palalupo, modular auditorium in recycled material of the Appennino Tosco Emiliano National Park where on Friday 16 May at 21 pm Commissioner Eraldo Minetti of the Provincial Police of Genoa will lead the meeting “I am the wolf”.
13 May 2014
Source: GenovaToday