Last year's trend
More checks, more rescue, more protection. 2025 of the Provincial Police of Vicenza It's been an intense year, marked by the fight against poaching, the management of thousands of animals in need, and the containment of harmful species. Provincial Councilor Moreno Marsetti, with responsibility for the Provincial Police, Commander Gianluigi Mazzucco, and Deputy Commander Federico Franzoi, presented the numbers this morning. "I say this on behalf of myself and the Provincial Council," Marsetti began. "We are proud of the Vicenza Provincial Police Force, which is increasingly well-prepared, professional, and therefore crucial to environmental safety. In a vast and prestigious geographical area, our work has been two-pronged: on the one hand, we have reached out to endangered wildlife, with 2.860 rescues; on the other, we have rigorously monitored harmful species, with over 25.000 captures, particularly of pigeons, crows, wild boars, and coypu, essential to ensuring the balance of the Vicenza ecosystem. And then there's anti-poaching, which is very different from hunting. It's a shame to equate the two, because hunters are our allies against those who don't follow the rules."
Main commitments
Anti-poaching is one of the services that most engaged the Vicenza Provincial Police in 2025, with 54 people reported for criminal violations (39 in 2024). The police force relies on the collaboration of over 200 volunteers made available by hunting and environmental associations. Councilor Marsetti thanked these trained personnel for their time in the Vicenza area. Another significant commitment, which occupies the Provincial Police throughout the year, is the management of hunting and fishing. The Vicenza area has a long-standing tradition of hunting and fishing, with approximately 11.000 hunters and an equal number of fishermen. In carrying out surveillance throughout the area, the Provincial Police relied on teams of sworn volunteer officers, coordinating the various groups and developing monthly service programs.
Containment of harmful wildlife
Among the most demanding tasks in 2025 is the containment of problematic wildlife. The numbers are significant: 1811 wild boars were captured (1805 in 2024), 1650 coypu (911 in 2024), 4347 crows (2039 in 2024), including 887 jackdaws (527 in 2024), 3460 magpies (1512 in 2024), and 18.637 pigeons (12128 in 2024). It should be noted that containment operations are carried out not only by the Provincial Police but also by specially trained, authorized hunters coordinated by the provincial officers themselves. The containment measures, species, quantities, and timing, are established by the Region. Regarding coypu, a collaboration began towards the end of the year between the Alta Pianura Veneta Consortium and the Provincial Police to organize and coordinate controls within the territory managed by the Consortium and falling within the ATC 2 of Vicenza.
Wildlife conservation activities
In 2025, specific anti-poaching services led to the referral of 54 people to the Judicial Authorities for criminal violations involving:
n. 6 for bird trapping
No. 46 for killing protected species and/or using prohibited decoys
n. 17 for the killing of particularly protected species
n. 4 for violation of the TULPS rules
No. 7 for violation of the weapons law.
n. 1 for hunting on a hunting silence day
n. 15 for various violations of the Penal Code.
Also in the area of hunting, the Provincial Police issued 126 administrative violation reports (188 in 2024), of which 28 (61 in 2024) were contested by volunteer sworn officers coordinated by the Provincial Police Command. Regarding fish protection, there were 72 administrative findings (65 in 2024) related to checks on compliance with regional laws and fishing basin regulations, also drawn up in collaboration with volunteer officers operating in the area. Monitoring mushroom regulations and harvesting led to the discovery of 19 administrative violations (12 in 2024), 2 (2 in 2024) for truffles, and 20 (16 in 2024) for forestry and pastoral roads. Last year, a total of 9 violation reports were issued (9 in 2024), and 2 reports for collecting historical relics without authorization.
Activities carried out to support regional structures
The Provincial Police were also involved in interventions aimed at the proper management of wildlife populations, at the request of and in support of the regional bodies responsible for technical and administrative management of wildlife, fishing, and hunting. Specific activities included:
Monitoring and census of wild species subject to the harvest plan, ungulates (roe deer, chamois, red deer, mouflon), and black grouse, as well as other grouse whose harvest is prohibited but remains a valuable indicator of the health of our mountains. These operations were carried out in collaboration with local hunting management bodies (Territorial Hunting Areas and Alpine Districts).
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Monitoring compliance with ungulate culling plans, particularly to verify compliance with the age and sex classes of the assigned animals, as well as the selective culling methods.
54 (66 in 2024) inspections on wildlife farms and 37 (65 in 2024) inspections on fixed posts for the control of wild boar, aimed at verifying the requirements for issuing regional authorisations.
