I'm Not Afraid of the Wolf APS: "A serious incident that shouldn't be downplayed, but at this time there is no official confirmation publicly available on the circumstances. It's necessary to establish precisely what happened."
What happened on Sunday, September 20, on a farm in the municipality of Massa Marittima is a serious incident that deserves the utmost attention. According to the farmer involved and reported by the press, the woman was injured in the ear during a heated interaction involving wolves and the livestock guarding dogs present to protect the flock.
I'm Not Afraid of the Wolf APS first and foremost expresses its condolences to the injured person and his family. The seriousness of the incident necessitates further investigations. To date, as far as we have been able to verify, no communications from the competent authorities or the results of technical tests have been made publicly available that allow us to definitively attribute the injury to a wolf.
The breeder's testimony is obviously a crucial piece of evidence, but in such rapid and complex situations, it must be supported by available investigations. It is not currently publicly known whether swabs were taken on the lesions or clothing, biological samples were collected for possible genetic analysis, or other tests were performed to identify the animal involved and reconstruct the dynamics.
Genetic analysis has already been used in Italy in similar incidents and can provide important clues to identifying the species involved. Requesting verification doesn't mean casting doubt on the injured person, but rather giving such a serious incident the scrutiny it deserves.
It's also necessary to understand the behavioral context of the incident. An attack directed directly at a person, a reaction during a fight between canines, or a different dynamic during a tense situation represent different scenarios from an ethological and management perspective and, for this very reason, require the most precise reconstruction possible.
What happened a few months ago in Camaiore, where an alleged wolf attack on a child was widely reported before investigations revealed a different pattern, demonstrates how problematic it can be to draw conclusions in the early hours. Therefore, even in the Valpiana case, further investigations seem appropriate. In the early hours, several headlines and press reports presented the attribution of the bite to a wolf as a proven fact, yet at this time, to our knowledge, no technical results are yet publicly available to confirm this.
This takes on particular importance in a dynamic described as extremely hectic and characterised by the simultaneous presence of numerous canids.
We therefore ask the Tuscany Region and the competent authorities to make public as soon as possible a technical reconstruction of the incident, indicating the investigations carried out and any analysis results. If official findings also confirm that a wolf bit the farmer, it will be necessary to state this clearly and carefully evaluate the circumstances and management implications. If a different scenario emerges, it must be communicated with the same transparency.
photo by Gianluca Damiani