Federcaccia protagonist in the Brussels workshop on lagomorphs

The event was organized to take stock of the situation in Europe on hare and wild rabbit species, for which there has been a decline.

The day September 11th a Brussels, after the general meeting FACE, a symposium entitled "The future of Lagomorphs (hares and rabbits) in Europe" was held, organized to take stock of the situation in Europe on species hare and wild rabbit, for which there has been a significant decline in many states of the European Union. The importance of these wild animals from the faunal-environmental point of view, and consequently hunting, led FACE to a moment of in-depth study, with health and ecological relations.

An intervention by Daniel Svrcula of FACE he exposed the situation in Europe and the main causes of decline, identified in diseases, predation, agricultural practices. Dr Margarida Duarte of the Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, IP, Portugal presented a detailed report on pathologies of leporidia, their distribution in Europe, the mode of transmission and the role that humans play as a vector of the virus. The Italian contribution was brought by Valter Trocchi, of the Federcaccia Environmental Management Office, which exposed the situation of the hare and the rabbit from an ecological point of view and study of the factors that led to the decline, with examples of experimental studies conducted in Italy.

The results of these researches in northern Italy and the Apennines have shown a reduction in reproductive success in the hare, due to both a mortality of the hares, both to a reduction in the fertility of females. In particular, reproductive pathology increases with the age of hares and this means that only a fraction of females are reproductive. The hypotheses of a chemical cause, to be found in the products used in agriculture, appears the most probable, considering that the decline is recorded simultaneously in many European countries. For the rabbit Valter Trocchi presented the results of a work conducted in Sicily, in which vaccinated subjects were released after settling in a protected area.

In this case it has occurred a strong impact of predation on young rabbits. The purpose of FACE is to prepare a document-guide for the improvement of the situation of the hare and rabbit in Europe, to investigate the factors that are reducing these important wild animals, in view of intervening with proposals for specific environmental-agricultural measures in the Community Agricultural Policy. 2020-2027. The Federcaccia Trocchi technician will be involved by FACE for the preparation of this document and will support Michele Sorrenti, Chairman of the FACE Working Group on Nature Directives, for the problems concerning the two species of lagomorphs and the actions to be undertaken in the community in the environmental and agricultural fields.