Italy
Italy is the 10th largest country in Europe. Oddly, it has proved to successfully hold on to many of the species lost elsewhere. Some of these have returned, and there is ongoing debate about bringing back those still missing.
Wolves were thought to number around 3307 last year, and with growth of 6-7% that would be around 3500 this year (if still growing at that pace. They hit their low point in the 1970s with 70-100 individuals. while considered a separate subspecies, it is likely that any differences in appearance is due to the bottleneck that populations have gone through, and probably not significant differences in the actual animals. More to the point, it is far better for the European wolf population to make sure the genetic width of the population is there. It should be noted that the French wolf population was founded out of the Italian population, through migration back in 1992. The Italian wolves can be seen through much of the peninsula on the west of the country, using the Apennines mountain range as a highway.
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There are currently 2 populations of bears in Italy. The Marsican bear lives in the Apennines of Italy, alongside the Italian wolf, however this population only number 60-80. The other population is to replace a recently extinct population only lost 34 years ago, when the italian Alps population fell to 3 members, without a single breeding female. A decision was made to start translocating bears from Slovenia. That has been incredibly successful – with the population now thought to be around 100.
There are thought to be just 200 lynx in Italy. While there is a population in the northern province of belluno in Italy, there are also many along the border between Switzerland and Slovenia, where across the border there are established populations. I look at how close these are, and wonder whether the Belluno population may have a similar origin.
Bison were locally extinct in Italy are but have been reintroduced into Viva Natura park near Verona, though this is only to ready the herd for the true reintroduction into the wilds of Romania..Â
Links to areas to visit will appear below.
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Italy News
Wolves howling in Italy
I have only been lucky enough to hear wolves howl once in the wild, on the edge of the Sierra de Culebra in Spain (I have also heard them from a zoo). While it is reasonably common to hear a wolf howling in the wild, seeing it happen is far rarer. A wolf howl is …
As wildfires burn across much of Southern Europe, the political party running the UK backtracks on its commitments
Last Thursday, while wildfires raged in Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Portugal, Croatia and Algeria and British tourists found themselves being rescued by locals in boats (good boats, not those bringing people fleeing for their lives).
West african Lion spotted in a reserve in Chad that has not recorded one since 2004
A lioness has been spotted in a reserve in Chad, which has not recorded one since 2004! Lions have not been spotted in the Chad national park of Sena Ouro since 2004, it is not clear if a few lions hung on for the last few decades or if lions have migrated over from a …
Wolves in the Alps are growing fast – 25% up in one year
The alps are essentially the centre of western Europe, while the Carpathians are the centre of eastern europe.
What to do for a holiday, when you are concerned about planes in the time of COVID
Whether, you are short of money, fearful of air travel in the time of COVID or too concerned about your carbon footprint to take this method, there are still a substantial number of destinations within a long drive of the UK, where you can see wildlife. If you live in Europe instead, you can find …
Return of the bear wolf and lynx to France and western Europe
The recovery of wolves bears and lynx over the last several generations in western Europe has been nothing short of astounding. In the 1960s the population of the iberian wolf did not number more than a few hundred, yet now there are 2500. Similarly, bears got very low but now more than 300 roam – …
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Wolves continue to spread across France
It has been confirmed! An animal seen in Calvados, France was a male wolf. They have not been seen in this part of France for over 100 years.
Could Bialowlieza forest be destroyed by forests on borders?
Around the world we are in a period where there are lots of people struggling where they are. Whether due to weather or war or crime, there are significant numbers of people who are on the move. Perhaps the most famous is the border wall that Donald Trump ran on. Given that almost all of …
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Are wolves breaking into new territory in Europe?
Yesterday, I was writing about a new wolf pack that had established itself in northern California – this is exciting, because wolves have only started recolonising California in the last couple of years and they seem to be thriving (as one would expect). Indeed, wolf recovery in America is highly likely (assuming policies like Trumps …
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Whipsnade zoo shoots two Bears after they escape
Whipsnade zoo had three bears. A tree trunk blew over, allowing two of them to climb into the neighbouring enclosure that contained boar.
Urgent news update – Indonesia deforestation
The Indonesian government has decided to change the designation of large parts of the country from protected forest to available for food production.
First wolf sighting in northern France in 100 years
Before the Italian wolves started crossing back into France from Italy, they had been missing since the 1930s. However, France is a sparsely population country- its population is similar to the UK but in a country about 4 times bigger. The wolf population has grown at a good rate for the last 25 years and …
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Wild boar shot at a school in Rome
The number of wild boar is increasing dramatically across much of Europe. From Spain which have areas supporting populations of hundreds of thousands of boar, to France and even in the UK where boar in the forest of Dean are already being culled regularly to keep their population under control. Italy has perhaps the worst …
Belgium has its own Wolf population
Belgium appears to have its own permanent wolf population as the French and the German wolf population recombine for the first time in over a century The spread of wolves across Europe is something that has been championed by many over the last couple of decades. Having spread read back into Western Europe after the …
The death of 3 Marsican bears
The bear in Europe is known to be an endangered animal. In much of Western Europe the bears only survive in mountains which people use less. While in Eastern Europe in countries like Romania they exist across much of the landscape, in Western Europe they only inhabit small pockets.
News in Brief: The Persian Leopard, Accidental Death of one of the last male Marsican bears, and a mutant enzyme which eats plastics
The Persian Leopard The Persian Leopard is only found in a few countries and only in very few small numbers. However the fact that it still clings on means that it is far easier to recover this species than it would be were the last few to have disappeared. This is similar to the Amur …
Predator recovery across Europe – Part 2 – Bears
The decline in bear numbers occurred earlier than wolves in many areas, and as bears are slow breeders compared to wolves it can take a long time for populations to recover. In this post I will outline the main populations in Europe.
UK extinct species and imported species – Part 1
Huge numbers of species have been disappearing from some or all of their original range in the wild. While there are other reasons for animals to disappear from areas, humans are usually the biggest. This is certainly the case on a micro scale. The majority of impacts of climate change has shifted the entire range …
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