As reported by an official press release from the Italian Federation of Hunting, eleven operators visited in February on the Island of Pianosa, which is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea and is part of theTuscan archipelago, to participate in the capture of hares. Also present in the group were some managers of the sections of San Miniato and Cascina (in the province of Pisa) of Federcaccia itself, the presidents of the Restocking and Capture Areas of Navacchio and San Miniato, without forgetting the councilors of the Federcaccia representing the Territorial Hunting Area of Pisa. This is the response given to a request for collaboration on a project it plans to safeguard the indigenous communities of Italian hare which are located right on the Island.
The Tuscan operators intervened with all the material necessary for this type of capture, that is nets, stakes, crates for the transport of animals, with the help of dogs. The Pisan volunteers collaborated with another group from Abruzzo, specifically from the city of Chieti: moreover, coordination of operations was guaranteed by ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research).
In detail, the project envisaged a continuous and constant commitment of the operators, active for about thirty days with alternate shifts with respect to those of the groups coming from the ATC, in order to guarantee a stay in Pianosa for four days in a row in turn. The hares captured at the end of each single shift were distributed proportionally to the operators who were present, with the subsequent transfer to the places of origin of the groups: the last phase was that of the liberation of the animals in the areas forbidden to hunting.
Just two weeks ago theTerritorial hunting area of Pistoia he had decided to introduce breeding pheasants and hares in the Restocking and Capture Areas of the Tuscan province, a choice dictated above all by the fact that he wanted to support the resident populations. The extraordinary capture plan was organized by the Tuscan Archipelago Park Authority and the operations in February were nothing more than the phase immediately following the tests that took place on the island of Pianosa last December.
The redevelopment of the Tuscan ZRC is therefore proceeding at a brisk pace, a process that began in the last months of 2014: the inputs were judged positively and the quality of the animals was defined as "excellent". The hares we are talking about belong to the breeders who have agreements with the Territorial Areas of Hunting and also come from the catches within the enclosures in charge.