The numbers reported by the association
Il poaching The number of dead protected birds is growing, despite growing environmental awareness. 1.043 specimens of protected birds were delivered to the WWF Valpredina CRAS in 2025, compared to 685 in 2024, an increase of 52,26%. These numbers are expected to rise further, given that the hunting season is not over. These figures relate only to the provinces of Brescia and Bergamo, and are expected to rise further, given that the hunting season is not over, confirming the seriousness of an increasingly organized crime phenomenon. The killing of small protected birds, such as the robin, is particularly on the rise.
Criminal organizations
Added to these numbers are the thousands of birds seized by police because they were illegally held, often to be used as "live decoys," as also emerges from data published by the Carabinieri Forestry Corps (Operation Pettirosso, conducted by the Anti-Poaching Operations Section, SOARDA). Poaching is no longer just a matter of individuals, but of actual criminal organizations that have realized that investing in this sector means making a lucrative profit with minimal risk.
An underestimated phenomenon
Domenico Aiello, Head of Legal Protection of Nature at WWF Italy, stated: "Underestimating the severity of this phenomenon—which damages biodiversity, human health, and the legal economy—renders prevention and repression tools ineffective: local controls, investigations, trials, and sanctions. In this regard, the role of politicians is crucial: they must reflect public awareness and the evidence of a growing crime, not give in to pressure from those demanding reduced controls and concessions to hunting lobbies, but demonstrate a sense of responsibility in protecting common interests and the principles enshrined in Article 9 of the Constitution. Conversely, many regions have gradually undermined wildlife protection. Lombardy, for example, has amended its hunting law 28 times in the last 10 years, and this dangerous trend is now also being observed nationwide."
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