It was supposed to happen in the open, and it happened. From today there is no longer any doubt that the Wolf has returned to inhabit the Val Bormida and lower Piedmont. Not that there were no other reports, but now there is the "smoking gun": the carcass of a fine specimen of wolf (sub-adult and male) hit along a road in the Municipality of Cengio (Savona), in the Val Bormida di Millesimo, not far from the borders with Piedmont where the presence of the Wolf had already been reported over and over again, but never or almost never by people who could confirm it with absolute certainty. That it is Lupo is certain. However, there remains a doubt, or rather two: what is its exact specificity (Apennine wolf, or rather Italian, or Wolf ... European?) And what its origin. The second question can certainly be answered: Piedmont, or the Piedmontese Alps, for the simple reason that from the borders with France and up to the Cebano (Val Tanaro) the presence of the wolf had been reported for some time, with sightings even close, by countless people: mushroom makers, hikers, hunters, ordinary citizens. The specimens that formed the first packs between France and Piedmont in the last twenty years have obviously grown and, as the undersigned had already foreseen for a long time, the wolves finally arrived in Val Bormida; but not from the East and the Apennines, as some would have wished, if not EXPECTED, but from the West and France (although wolves were no longer present in France since before the last war)!
So here is that more than a decade ago some "little hands" decided to repopulate the Alps starting from Mercantour with specimens taken from the (MANY!) Private enclosures present in that country (especially in the South and Center), where subspecies from various parts of the world have reproduced (and are still present). Why the choice of Mercantour? Obviously, it is no coincidence that it is the area that, due to the density of wild prey, had the best chance of welcoming it (although then the wolves, less foolish than the "lupophiles", devoted themselves above all to sheep!).
Now it will be up to geneticists and DNA experts (so to speak!) To determine which subspecificity to assign this "alpine" population whose genetic origins are certainly not pure, at least as verifiable by examining photos and videos dating back to the first reports (then largely secreted by those who own them!). The specimen that died in Cengio is definitely a Wolf. The doubts are only about the subspecificity, because different aspects of its morphology do not seem to be able to assign it with certainty to the Italian population: a very thick coat, and so the tail, fur with all the fairly dull shades of color, more typical of the wolves of Central Europe. Without ignoring the dimensions, which are already considerable for a sub-adult.
And it is already fortunate that he can certainly define himself as a Wolf, at least European (because the phenotypic similarity seems not to be close to that typical of southern and central Italy). Here it is, then, the "any wolf as long as there is the wolf" that someone wanted! To conclude, now, if for naturalists the problem is to establish (perhaps with some small DNA manipulation!) To which subspecies to assign it, for the inhabitants of the Savona hinterland the problem is to understand whether or not they should be afraid of this increasingly frequent in their woods, and on who will pay for the damage that will inevitably be caused to them with the exponential growth of wolves; also because to avoid their payment, the authorities will all be quick to believe the bale of wild dogs.
And then there will be those who will take action independently and then those who will cry out at poaching, and, perhaps, at the need to stop hunting. And therefore to act in such a way as to favor the growth of the population (because this will be needed by the "experts" who are now said to come to monitor the situation). In the meantime, it will not be them, nor the "lupophiles", who will pay, but the breeders!
Frank Zunino
Secretary General of the Italian Wilderness Association
(April 3, 2014)
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