The specimens of Sardinian deer are too many? Just cut down those in excess and serve the meat on the menus of the restaurants in the country to increase the tourist appeal. It is the idea, already severely contested by environmentalists, launched by the mayor of Laconi (Oristano) Salvatore Argiolas, now that the deer population has reached - according to an estimate - one thousand and has begun to cause damage.
In 1998 a group had been reintroduced into the state-owned forest of Funtanamela, about 500 hectares in the territory of Arbus, also for tourism purposes, in the municipal construction site of the regional Forest agency. Since then the deer, even after that in 2007 some specimens escaped from a lesion of the fence caused by the abundant snowfalls, they have reproduced exponentially in a particularly favorable environment, due to the presence of woods and water. And they belong to a protected species.
The situation would have become unmanageable - according to the mayor - because the animals would no longer be confined to a fenced area, but free to move not only in the mountains, but also to reach the center of the country. To solve the problem, the mayor of Laconi thus suggested a solution a selective killing of deer, with the possibility of offering their meat in typical and specific menus, only in the territories that have suffered damage, caused by their presence.
DAMAGES AND ACCIDENTS. "I only made a proposal," Mayor Argiolas explains to Agi. “I said that if, and only if, the killing of deer were the only viable solution, at that point, it could be done to turn it into a resource. Sometimes they call me on the phone, late at night, for car accidents caused by the sudden crossing of deer in the middle of the road and, in addition to the damage to the motorist, I also find myself having expenses to dispose of the carcass of the animal . It does not seem to me that we are doing our best, nor that we cannot study and find new solutions ».
THE PROTEST OF THE ANIMALISTS. The environmentalists and, in particular, those of the Legal Intervention Group immediately rose to the proposal of selective culling. "Sardinian deer, even in Laconi, are not the property of the Municipality", argues Grig's spokesman, Stefano Deliperi, recalling that they are species "strictly protected by the International Convention of Bern", "and the mayor cannot use them in his own restaurants. country for the combination of deer and truffle: it is nonsense and demonstrates the scarce ability to propose sensible solutions for any possible problem caused by wild fauna ».
MISSING A CENSUS. There is no certain and updated data on the current number of deer in the Laconi area. «The Forestas regional agency took care of the census», the mayor relates, «because they were initially taken to the forest site for tourism purposes. However, when the feeding was no longer sufficient, because they began to reproduce a lot, they opened the fences and thus began to spread uncontrollably throughout the municipal area. For about two years, due to Covid, due to internal provisions of the Forestas Agency, the census was therefore no longer carried out even if, based on an estimate, there would be more than a thousand around, but we do not exclude that they are also many more. There are many and we realize it because they also arrive in the village ».
BOARS ALSO INCREASE. Laconi, the mayor recalls, "is a center with a strong hunting tradition: we had entire mountains beaten by hunters, because they were full of wild boars". "Currently, however, it is no longer possible to hunt due to the high presence of deer," says the mayor. "Therefore, the number of wild boars is also increasing and the situation is becoming critical." There are those who, in order to avoid the culling of deer, proposed to the mayor to transfer them to other areas of Sardinia, but according to Argiolas "the problem is only moving elsewhere". "Let's not forget that there are other parts in Italy, in Europe and in the world where they have managed to make it a resource," adds the mayor. «It would be a question of enhancing their meat and creating alternative tourism in inland areas. I understand that someone may be scandalized by all this, but the reality is that we are talking about animals that would die anyway from hunger, road accidents or fights between males during the mating season ».
THE ALTERNATIVES TO KILLING. «It is necessary to work from a regulatory point of view. I am not thinking of proposing anything for tomorrow morning ", Argiolas specifies," but it would at least be appropriate to sit around a table, to talk about it and think about it. On the part of the Region, there is the commitment of the Councilor for the Environment, Gianni Lampis, to find solutions, because he has realized that the situation is serious. He certainly did not guarantee me killing. That, however, is a proposal that I feel myself making, because I believe it may be the best. There are those who say no a priori and, in the end, do not propose any alternative that could be valid. What interests me is that the question can be resolved. " "If he wanted to do something sensible and useful for his community and really transform the problem into a resource for his country", is Deliperi's counter-proposal, "the mayor of Laconi could train nature guides to take tourists to photograph deer Sardinians both in the Aymerich park (where they objectively increase the tourist attraction) and in the few in the area. In any case, the specimens that were considered in excess by the regional Department of Defense of the Environment, with the necessary technical-scientific support of Ispra, the Forestry Corps and environmental surveillance and the Forestas agency, could be captured and reintroduced, with the appropriate procedures, in naturally suitable areas and already identified by the regional planning acts ».