Arnold Schuler, provincial councilor for agriculture of Bolzano, has launched a petition to ask for new measures to reduce the protection of wolves. The commissioner addressed the European Union directly, using the Openpetition.eu platform, but the appeal was also addressed to the Italian government. The goal is to carry out a controlled collection of the wolf in the South Tyrolean area, in compliance with EU legislation.
At the present time, this petition has collected almost 16 thousand signatures (it has been online for a few days). The EU should therefore review the level of protection thought for this species, while Rome is called to evaluate the emergency in South Tyrol. The reasons are soon said. Mountain farms and mountain pastures are essential for the landscape, biodiversity and also for tourism. However, the wolf population has increased uncontrollably, both in Italy and in neighboring Switzerland and this creates conflicts between wolves themselves and farm animals, without forgetting the relationship with humans.
Schuler recalled how difficult it is to defend the mountain pastures and the easiest consequence to imagine is theprogressive abandonment of the malghe. The wolf, then, has become less and less shy and is getting closer and closer to inhabited centers, a serious threat to security. This is why the high level of protection of the species should be questioned: controlled harvesting is considered the only way to follow, also to reduce the illegal killing and the illegal growth of hybrid specimens.