In Lessinia, a wolf was found dead, likely poisoned: a dangerous trend, and a policy incapable of managing it.

Thursday 25 June 2026

The association I'm not afraid of the wolf, which has been committed to wolf conservation and the promotion of coexistence between large carnivores and human activities for over ten years, reports with great concern the discovery of a wolf that died from suspected poisoning in the area between Cerro Veronese and Romagnano, in Lessinia, where – from the rumours gathered – they have also been identified several poisoned morsels that could be the cause of the animal's death.

This is an extremely serious episode, which not only represents a crime against a species protected by national and European legislation, but which once again draws attention to on an increasingly toxic climate that has accompanied the public debate surrounding the presence of the wolf in Lessinia for years.

The wolf returned permanently to Lessinia in 2012. More than fourteen years have passed and even today the public debate continues too often to revolve around an emergency narrative, where the predator's presence is systematically described as an extraordinary problem. This approach risks producing very concrete consequences: When a species is portrayed for years as the symbol of a crisis, the line between social conflict and illegal actions becomes increasingly fragile.

The use of poisoned bait is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible practices against wildlife. It not only affects wolves, but also indiscriminately endangers domestic dogs, other wild carnivores, scavengers, and the entire ecosystem, including humans and farm animals. This is a very serious event that destroys the narrative of a "green" Lessinia and profoundly calls into question the environmental protection model that an area like Lessinia should represent.

For over a decade, the natural return of the wolf has been transformed by a certain political class into a tool for consensus and propaganda, systematically used to fuel fears, social tensions and electoral consensus instead of building concrete solutions.For years, farmers have been told that the main problem in the area was the wolf, fueling the illusion that fighting the predator would be enough to solve difficulties that in reality have much deeper economic, structural, and political origins. This episode, along with many others, is the result.

Added to all this is the silence of the Lessinia Regional Natural Park, which in all these years has substantially renounced its cultural, scientific and educational role on the wolf issueAn institution that should have supported the region in adopting preventive measures, in understanding and managing an ecological recovery that was certainly not free from conflict, but of extraordinary naturalistic importance.

Hoping that those responsible will be identified, we firmly condemn this latest episode. and we wait to understand who, among the administrators and representatives of the territory, will express a clear and public condemnation, or if once again the silence that too often accompanies events of this gravity will prevail.