Hunting and Fauna: Udine, too many wild boars and roe deer, too much damage in a year but the funds for compensation are lacking; from the Province an integrated project with hunters and farmers.
As many as 224 accidents caused by roe deer, wild boar and wild animals on the roads, ever closer to inhabited centers; 130 practices relating to damage to crops. And as many requests for compensation addressed to the Province. This is the balance of 2012, but if only the data of the last three years are consulted, motorists who have come across a specimen of wildlife, in the lead roe deer, followed by wild boar, deer and hares, ending up off the road or, in any case, 724 damage to their car, compared to 426 claims for compensation presented by farmers as a result of damage to fields or horticultural crops.
From Varmo to Muzzana, from Buttrio to Latisana, up to the gates of Udine, to the Cormor and Torre parks, the presence of ungulates spreads across the plains. Thanks to the abandonment of the mountain, the lack of mowing and the advance of the forest, the wild boars approach the inhabited centers, spotted at the gates of the city in Trieste and Gorizia, they are also close to Udine.
And so, before reaching extreme situations such as the one discovered in Basovizza, where 11 specimens were poisoned with strychnine, the Province of Udine is running for cover and is preparing to counteract the raids of wildlife with a project tested in Forgaria and now ready to be applied on the provincial territory. Councilor Luca Marcuzzo illustrates it: "The funds available are scarce - he observes, last year the Region allocated 600 thousand euros, of which 400 for the Province of Udine, this year only 150 thousand euros were allocated with a budget change, then it reached 300, with the hope of obtaining the same amount allocated for 2012, but, given the financial situation, there is no certainty ».
And so it was thought of intervene preventively with an integrated land management project that requires low investments, but promises excellent results. "We experienced it last year in Forgaria: damage to crops decreased by 80% and with them damage to cars, now we are ready to apply it on a provincial scale, it requires collaboration between hunting associations and farmers".
It is an articulated plan: provides for "disturbance actions" and withdrawals. «We have already started meetings with hunters and farmers who have to collaborate - Marcuzzo explains - with regard to wild boars, action will be taken on the areas and periods at risk taking into account the vegetational stage. It will be enough to "feed" or to put the feed away from the crops to attract animals, count them, limit the number of "matriarchs" and thus prevent excessive proliferation ».
Meanwhile, 2013 opened with a new wave of compensation claims. "In case of damage, a complaint must be presented - explains Pietro Ottogalli, head of the Wildlife Hunting Resources Management Office - we have only two employees who work in the area, trying to deal with all the reports. The requests are numerous and we have to wait until the end of the year to check the amount of available resources and establish the distribution ». Last year the coverage of damages was close to 60%, the previous year the percentage was lower, but if you manage to stem the problem from the beginning, the resources could be sufficient to compensate both farmers and motorists.
11 March 2013
Source: MessaggeroVeneto