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The Trentino policy on large carnivores: a situation that is no longer sustainable

Thursday 27 August 2020

Thursday 27 August 2020

A situation that is no longer sustainable: this is the alarm cry launched by the Association I am not afraid of the wolf following its publication by the Autonomous Province of Trento of yet another press release which, in our opinion, tackles the issue of large carnivores with an approach totally detached from any content of technical or scientific relevance, fomenting an unjustified climate of hatred and fear that risks jeopardizing the acceptance and conservation of the brown bear and of the wolf on the whole Alpine chain.

The association I'm not afraid of the wolf is shocked by the exasperated climate that the current provincial council is using in relation to the presence of bear and wolf in the territory of the Province of Trento.
Arrived that, after having accumulated a consistent series of failures on the theme of large carnivores, continues to throw fuel on the fire, paradoxically affirming its inability to manage "a problem" whose management responsibility falls precisely on its own administrative bodies.
An embarrassing approach, with press releases that define "without fear of man" wolf specimens based on the observations of people with no technical or scientific expertise on the subject, statements by individual citizens who often may not be able to distinguish a fox from a dog, or even worse by taking actions in response to the opinions of characters belonging to categories which have clear economic interests in eliminating predators from the territory.

With this latest press release, we continue to leverage the "fear" of a possible attack on humans by the wolf, evoking ancient fears that easily break through the valley dwellers, people often without information on the topic of large carnivores, a topic now in hostage to politics, which in our opinion does not inform, but sometimes distorts a reality of which citizens and farmers have the right to be informed in a transparent manner.
It is not in fact news that in the past year, despite the increase in wolves in the provincial territory, the economic damage has dropped significantly compared to previous years, especially thanks to the prevention initiatives promoted by the Province itself in past years.

This hysterical climate not only affects the wolf but also has the bear among its victims, where between M49, JJ4 and the probable M57, guilty of the latest attack against a carabiniere of 24 years to whom we express our best wishes for a speedy recovery, the situation is just as hot.
They had been leaking for several months images of bears feeding on bins, making it clear that probably not enough has yet been done to keep bears away from population centers.

The distribution of bear-proof bins carried out by the Province, which has distributed about 200 is probably not yet enough: the anti-bear bins should be the norm throughout the territory affected by the presence of the bear, outside and inside the villages, and this morning we were able to personally verify that while in the areas of waste collection at the edge of inhabited centers often only anti-bear bins are correctly prepared, entering the inhabited centers often traditional bins are still in use that risk attracting animals.

Andalo: containers for the wet with anti-bear system
Andalo: containers for the wet without an anti-bear system

Furthermore, we have also verified that often the anti-bear bins are not closed correctly by the users after the deposit of the wet waste, thus losing their main function.
Leaving food available because the waste is not managed correctly or worse still because someone voluntarily leaves food residues to attract animals, will be the inevitable cause of the approach of these to the inhabited centers with all the consequences that this entails.

In conclusion, it is in our opinion fundamental implement all good practices to encourage coexistence with large carnivores including a strong commitment to information and environmental education, fundamental elements to avoid situations that favor possible accidents with people.

It is also necessary to implement a decisive change of course to restore a real and correct vision of these great predators, symbols of Trentino and Italian culture and history that remain today at the mercy of political moods.
We therefore call once again the utmost attention to the political work of the Province of Trento by all the associations and individual citizens who care about coexistence with large carnivores, and we also recall local and national institutions such as the Minister of Ambiente Sergio Costa, ISPRA, the Life WolfAlps project, the MUSE of Trento, the municipalities of Trentino and all those who aspire to a serious and scientifically consistent approach with the biology of these fascinating and controversial animals.