Special Regional Commission working group
“Management and continuous monitoring are more fundamental than ever to safeguard agricultural companies and at the same time guarantee the wolf its environmental role”. This is the declaration of Lorena Miele, vice-president of Cia Lombardia, following the data provided yesterday by the working group of the Special Regional Commission 'Enhancement and protection of mountain territories' Relations with Switzerland which hosted the managers of the general directorates of the presidency of the Lombardy Region and the regional departments of Agriculture and Territory. In fact, during the morning the Working Group also met with the farmers' trade associations, who highlighted the difficulties of the sector following the proliferation of wolf packs, estimated at 20-30% per year, for a total of 21 packs registered in the Lombardy area.
Pastures too large
“We need a special law for the management of the wolf, which is no longer a species in danger of extinction but rather, proliferates very quickly and today more than ever it is a big problem for farms and for those who practice amateur breeding - explains Miele -. Increases in calls for prevention activities are welcome, as they are an important resource for those who have livestock losses, but they are not the solution to the problem. It is not possible to enclose enormous pastures, just as it becomes economically unsustainable to have shepherds present 24 hours a day to guard the flocks. Pastoralism, let us remember, also serves to guarantee the cleanliness of mountain prairies, habitat of many species of small animals that risk disappearing".
Preventive reductions
The fact, then, that the wolf is less and less afraid of man is one of the main problems in the management of subjects that are getting ever closer to inhabited centres, situations that would be avoided if preventive killing were carried out, an activity currently prohibited in Italy . Again the vice president of Cia Lombardia: “As an association we fight to guarantee biosystemic balance and we know well the importance of predators in keeping biodiversity alive, however it is scientifically proven that as long as the wolf is afraid of man, attacks decrease. Switzerland has long successfully carried out preventative culling of young subjects, so that the herd identifies the danger and stays away from buildings and farms controlled by humans".
The example of France
We are not talking about eradication, but rather management: “Constant control and management of the population is needed to ensure that the damage caused by wolves is close to zero. France has obtained an exemption for culling, we hope that in Italy too action can be taken to prevent herds from increasing more and more, causing not only damage to livestock, but actual attacks on people, such as tourists and shepherds", concludes the vice president Miele. (Source CIA)