the wolf from the stories of the grandparents is back and attacks and kills livestock: the Emilia Romagna region, to save goat and cabbages, or rather wolves and lambs, has allocated funds to equip breeders with protective systems, bollards and for the purchase of trained guard dogs. A plan to prevent attacks by wolves on livestock: the Emilia Romagna region presented it to support hill and mountain livestock farms exposed to predatory risk. For 2014, funds for 100 thousand euros will be set aside, which can be further increased. The phenomenon of wolf attacks, with the consequent killing of livestock, is also becoming a significant reality in the Emilia-Romagna Apennines; to live with the wolf, breeders must therefore take adequate precautions. Since 2008, the Region has geo-referenced canid attacks to identify the areas most at risk. All the provinces are affected, with the exception of Ferrara; Forlì-Cesena is the hardest hit. Out of 572 livestock farms in the hilly and mountainous areas, an average of 130 per year are affected by the attacks.
“The wolf is a species protected by Italian and European law - declared the Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Tiberio Rabboni in presenting the initiative - We also want to protect our farms. The goal of the plan is to make difficult coexistence possible. Similar experiences already carried out in Italy and in Europe have given excellent results, with a containment of over 90% of predatory phenomena when good prevention has been done ".
The experimental plan includes three phases:
- raising the awareness of farmers, with meetings in the area to make known the opportunities offered and collect expressions of interest;
- visits by experts to individual farms to identify the most suitable interventions for the protection of livestock;
- publication of a regional tender to finance the purchase of trained watchdogs and protective equipment, such as fences and bollards.
Since 2002, the Emilia Romagna Region has granted livestock breeders compensation for damage caused by canids (wolves and wandering dogs): currently 100% of the value of the predated animals is compensated, with a contribution of 100 euros for the disposal of carcasses, for a total annual expenditure of approximately 150 thousand euros, which has not experienced growth peaks over time. “The intervention plan - concluded Rabboni - therefore constitutes an additional tool to support farmers, to help them live with a business risk for which they are often unprepared. The wolf was in fact absent from the regional territory for many years, but is now widespread throughout the Emilia-Romagna Apennine ridge ”.
We will implement the best practices that have already been successfully tested and we will agree with the breeders tailor-made solutions based on the type of breeding, morphology of the territory, methods of sheltering the livestock and guardian ", specified the expert of the sector Duccio Berzi who will take part to the project. Since 2008, the Emilia-Romagna Region has geo-referenced canid attacks to identify the areas most at risk. All the provinces are affected, with the exception of Ferrara; Forlì-Cesena is the hardest hit. Out of 572 livestock farms present in the hilly and mountain areas, on average 130 per year are affected by the attacks.
A monitoring carried out by the Region in collaboration with Ispra (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) estimated an annual population of about 200 individuals, spread along the entire regional Apennine ridge, and 31 areas of stable presence were identified, in some of which live specimens with hybrid genetic heritage (21 identified ones). Wolf hunting has been prohibited in Italy since 1971, and since 1976, the wolf is recognized by law as a "protected species". Its rapid reappearance not only in the mountain areas, especially the Apennines, but also in the hills and in the valley floor dates back to the XNUMXs.
13 March 2014
Source: IlGiornaledellaProtezioneCivile
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