Yesterday, a report aired on Dentro la notizia (Channel 5 – Mediaset) about the presence of wolves in the Alta Val Taro. This is a sensitive issue, one that directly concerns our association and the local communities, and one that deserves to be addressed seriously and with balance.
Unfortunately, the December 2nd episode presented a highly alarmist narrative lacking adequate technical background, contributing more to fear than to properly informing the public. In light of this, we felt it necessary to send a letter to the editorial staff reiterating the importance of responsible reporting. The full text of our communication is published below.
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Dear Editors,
We are writing as the "Io non ho paura del lupo" APS Association, active throughout Italy for years, to express our thoughts on the report aired on December 2, 2025, regarding the presence of wolves in the province of Parma and, in particular, in the Alta Val Taro, the area where the Association is based.
Since September 11th, several incidents of predation and attempted predation against dogs have been recorded in the Upper Taro Valley (Parma), in some cases even in the presence of people. Additionally, there have been reports of disappearances of dogs, which, based on the circumstances and evidence gathered, are likely related to the presence of wolves. The frequency, concentration, and nature of these incidents in the municipalities of Tornolo and Bedonia constitute an exceptional situation, not attributable to the normal behavior of the species.
Our Association has documented the anomalous incidents from the outset, submitted a detailed technical report to the relevant authorities, and repeatedly requested targeted intervention. The municipal administration's report highlighted the Region's lack of involvement. We would like to emphasize this in turn: we consider it serious that, given a unique and extensively documented situation, there has yet to be a clear presence and adequate public communication from regional institutions.
Precisely because of this unique situation, we find the overall tone of your report, constructed in a highly alarmist manner, even more unacceptable. The choice to focus exclusively on emotional tones, without offering the public a technical overview of the phenomenon and without clearly explaining that we are dealing with a unique and limited case, does not contribute to effective information: it only fuels fear, tension, and mistrust. Conceived in this way, the report paints a distorted picture of the local situation and of the wolf itself, amplifying the alarm far beyond what the facts warrant.
The coexistence of large carnivores and human communities is a complex issue, requiring balance, knowledge, and responsibility from everyone, including the media. We expect an in-depth program on a national network to include, alongside citizens expressing legitimate opinions, individuals with specific expertise, capable of balancing individual accounts with a data-driven and field-based approach. This is also how a mature public debate is built, capable of calling for intervention when needed without turning every critical issue into widespread alarm. In this case, however, the lack of adequate technical support has made the coverage unbalanced and, in our opinion, objectively misleading.
We also take this opportunity to formally point out that most of the images of wolves used in the report, recognizable by their shooting method and context, are the property of the association Io non ho paura del lupo APS and have been reproduced without prior authorization and without citing the source.