Wolves in Lessinia: Boitani, from La Sapienza University: "It is wrong to speak of reintroduction only in Veneto, the plan should be shared among several countries".
Full house, in the civic hall of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo, at the conference organized by the local group of the Five Star Movement and moderated by Silvana Belladelli on the «Wolf in Lessinia - How things are and what can be done». Two leading figures in the sector sat at the table of the speakers: Luigi Boitani, professor of vertebrate zoology at the La Sapienza University of Rome, one of the leading experts on wolves at an international level (his work "On the side of the wolf" is famous, where the great predator is described under the scientific and historical-mythological aspect) and Sonia Calderola, veterinarian of the hunting and fishing section of the Veneto Region, as well as head of the Life WolfAlps project for the Veneto.
Boitani's contribution was useful to demolish fears but also some taboos regarding the wolf; to treat the topic in scientific terms, away from political exploitation; to also understand that some prevention measures offered by the Region need to be rethought: "Forget the acoustic deterrents," said Boitani, "they are of no use either for wolves or wild boars". In the end, we came out of the meeting with the awareness that the wolf causes fear and damage especially where misinformation and unpreparedness reign towards it. Few of the breeders present at the meeting, for example, were already aware of the structure of a herd, its life cycle and hunting territory: essential basics, explained Boitani.
«In Lessinia the wolves have found a godsend, here there is a lot of food within easy reach. And this is a problem. Because reintroduction is fine, but it must be compatible with human activities ”, the expert began, immediately earning the attention of the public.
«In 1979», he continued, «while in Abruzzo I was monitoring a population of one hundred wolves, I wrote that in order to better preserve this species it is sometimes necessary to eliminate some specimens in areas with difficult coexistence. The WWF attacked me. But I haven't changed my mind yet. The reduction of wolves, when necessary, must not be a taboo ». Then he explained that the average range of each herd, depending on the availability of food, is over 200 square kilometers. "Therefore it is wrong to speak of the reintroduction of the wolf in Lessinia or in Veneto", continued Boitani. “The plan should be at least interregional. Better if shared between several countries, as in the case of the collaboration between Piedmont and Switzerland ».
"The constant and precise monitoring of one's wolf population is also indispensable," he added. «France spends three million and 100 thousand euros each year on this activity; it therefore has excellent data, thanks to which biologists can decide if and where to resize the herds. Sweden even has the pedigree of each of its 320 wolves and in each pack one or two are fitted with a radio collar. It is unthinkable to reintroduce without monitoring. Maybe Italy would adapt to these virtuous models ». The control also serves to avoid hybridizations between wolves and dogs: a mating that produces fertile and numerous descendants, and which therefore constitutes a danger both for the purity of the species to be conserved and for the quantity of the packs.
"Enough hypocrisy," added the expert. “The truth is that each region is left to itself. We have a national law on protected species and a dozen laws for compensation for damage caused by protected species. Council to the Regions to unite to put pressure on the government - the suitable venue may be the State-Regions Conference - to obtain more resources, greater monitoring, the permission to contain the herds when they are oversized compared to the territory. Only in this way can a good coexistence be prepared, otherwise difficult ».
"Now I know you are thrilled to know if wolves eat children," Boitani finally said. “Whatever fairy tale they told you, the answer is no. There has not been a single case of attack on humans in the last 200 years. In the Abruzzo park, frequented by two million visitors a year, zero attacks have occurred. The terror is atavistic, but let it pass, because there is no danger for the adults or for the children waiting for the bus at the stop ». Final blow to the antilupi propaganda of the mayor Flavio Tosi.
Lorenza Costantino
Arena.it
17.12.2014