HUNTING: “In Italy, wild boars and invasive wildlife are now out of control. In 2016, approximately 100 million euros of damage from wild boar to the agricultural sector were estimated (Eurispes report). In the first nine months of 2015 alone, 148 car accidents caused by wild boars were documented, resulting in 18 deaths and 109 injuries, many with permanent disabilities.
In 2020 alone, there are 16 victims, 215 injured and 2 million in damage (data from the ASAPS and ISTAT Observatory). These are just some of the data that were highlighted during the hearing in the Agriculture Commission, on my bill, by the biologist dr. Roberto Basso, director of the Civic Museum of Natural History of Jesolo and by dr. Andrea Bolzonetti, wildlife expert scientific advisor.
My bill for the containment of invasive wildlife provides the tools necessary to allow better management of wild boars, which in Italy are now estimated to have a population of over 2 million, a number that highlights how the situation is now out of control.
The problem is not limited only to wild boars, but is more general and concerns all the other species that every year cause irreparable damage to habitats and agricultural crops. For years rural areas and recently also urban centers have been under attack by these species that destroy fields and crops, damage other species, natural habitats and even make car travel dangerous, given the continuous repetition of road accidents. The time has come to provide the country with a suitable regulatory framework to restore order, safety and safeguard our wildlife and environmental heritage. "
The Hon. Maria Cristina Caretta, Brothers of Italy Group Leader in the Agriculture Committee at Montecitorio.