Hare projectIl Hare project financed bySingle ATC of Brescia on the precise indication of the Assembly of Delegates, this is one of the subjects criticized by the 5 directors of the Management Committee, who with their repeated absences led to the commissioner of the same Atc Unico of Brescia. The provincial Federcaccia talked about it in its “Cacciapensieri” column. The 5 advisers criticize the global investment of 76 thousand euros spread over 4 years because, according to them, a similar project was already published in 2001. In this case, too, we need to clarify.
Professor Alberto Meriggi published this study in 2001, funded by FIDC, using data collected in three Zrc in the province of Pavia in the mid-90s. More than 20 years have passed and the environment has suffered strong transformations throughout the Po Valley and new chemicals have been introduced from the agricultural world for crop treatments. Furthermore, at the turn of 2010, the populations of hares in the Po basin underwent a drastic downsizing, almost canceling the catches in provinces such as Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza Pavia and the lower Mantua, which have always been very productive. So Federcaccia Regionale promoted a large-scale project in 4 provinces involving 11 Zrc and the ATC of Brescia a study in our province involving 5 Zrc; in total, 160 hares from different origins were radio-collated between the two projects over an area of approximately 10.000 square kilometers.
It is evident that there are many topics to be clarified in order to finalize in the best possible way the repopulations put in place by the ATC and that "voluntarily" ignoring the causes that influence the hare drop it is certainly nonsense. In unsuspecting times we wrote to Professor Meriggi what he thought of this project: here is the answer. " The study, in its conception and programming, appears quite interesting because it involves a considerable number of protected areas, located in different environmental realities. In addition, the use of radio-telemetry techniques it will allow for the collection of detailed data on survival, displacement, dispersal and habitat use and selection. It will thus be possible at the end of the project to identify the anthropogenic and environmental factors influencing the survival of hares in the Po Valley and proposing effective management measures to counter the current decline.
In conclusion, I express a decidedly positive opinion on the project and its articulation ". Alberto Meriggi is a teacher at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Pavia and has always been involved in hares. Surely the five directors of the Management Committee know much more than a university professor but it is the opinion of Federcaccia Brescia that spending 1,20 euros per member to deepen the knowledge of the problems of such an important wild game, the hare, is a compulsory choice. and correct practice for those who manage an ATC. Remaining ignorant is of no use to anyone.