Data from 2024
Last year the presence of wild boars in the area of Euganean Hills Park decreased by 13%, while in the first months of 2024 there was a decrease of 12%. The numbers, communicated by the Park authority itself, "go in the direction of a general containment of ungulates, which have already done, and continue to do, so much damage to agriculture", comments Cia-Agricoltori Italiani Padova. It is not possible, however, to carry out a real census of this species.
The reproduction of wild boars
“We also consulted ISPRA, the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research - explains the president of Parco Colli, Alessandro Frizzarin -. Since wild boar reproduction does not follow a precise seasonality, it becomes complicated to provide official figures." In any case, thanks to the wildlife team, the selection controllers and the 50 cages located throughout the Euganean territory, "we are reducing the proliferation of the population, especially the younger one". In this regard, Cia Padova asks for continuity in containment operations, also in light of the results achieved, in particular in the last three years. “The invitation we make to the competent authorities - underlines the president of Cia Padova, Luca Trivellato - is not to lower their guard: those entrepreneurs who carry out their activities in the logic of resistance agriculture ask us to do so”. Cultivating where there are slopes, in fact, "almost becomes a heroic act". Furthermore, for seven years now the number of roe deer has also been increasing, probably coming from the nearby Berici Hills. So far they have not caused significant damage; however, the situation is carefully monitored both by Parco Colli and by the farmers themselves.
Protection and management
More generally, the CIA has been asking for some time to amend law 157 of 1992 called "Regulations for the protection of homeothermic wild fauna and for hunting". “The underlying purpose of the legislation, which is more than thirty years old, is already indicated in the title - specifies Trivellato -. In the current historical context it is necessary to move from the principle of protection to that of management. The ungulates have become so numerous, especially in the Park area, but they have also arrived in the plains, which must be managed, and not protected, within the balance of the entire ecosystem". This point is also indicated in the National Plan for Agriculture drawn up by Cia: “The interventions introduced so far are inconsistent with the expected objectives and are compromised by the fragmentation of territorial rules. It is urgent that the Regions, while respecting their autonomy, can equip themselves with a single and replicable instrument across the various territories, just as the limitations of community legislation regarding compensation for damages suffered by agricultural businesses must be resolved". “The institutions - concludes Trivellato - demonstrate that they are on the side of the farmers who, with passion, cultivate in the Euganean mountains and, in fact, represent sentinels of the territory” (source: CIA Padova).
You May Also Like ..
