Regarding the recent statements and requests to cull wolves in Lessinia, presented by regional councilor Stefano Valdegamberi and reported in the press, we feel it is our duty to clarify several key points.
From our inspections, we find that no real wolf-proof fences with all the necessary technical features have ever been installed at Malga Rambalda. The most effective prevention measures, such as electric fences and guard dogs, have never been implemented on the aforementioned mountain pasture, nor more generally in most of the Lessinia mountain pastures. Talking about "fences" and requests for exemptions without having applied the prevention measures is therefore misleading.
It should also be specified that there is no “abandonment of the highlands” due to the presence of the wolf. The progressive reduction in mountain activities has deep roots that began well before the natural return of the wolf: short-sighted agricultural policies, disadvantageous economic conditions, and logistical difficulties in which the wolf is only one piece of the puzzle. Blaming the predator distracts attention from the real structural problems that politics should address.
Part of the cattle that is taken to the mountain pastures in Lessinia It comes from farms in the plains, often intensively managed. Out of hundreds of mountain dairies, only a handful are milked on the mountain pastures, while most of the cattle are simply "dry cows," therefore unproductive, and are brought to the mountain pastures to reduce management costs in the stables, and also thanks to financial contributions.
Therefore, these are not small mountain communities that live exclusively on traditional grazing, but a more complex system, which should be explained with transparency.
In conclusion, the truly "out of control" situation is the Venetian policy on the wolf: For over a decade the Region, with Valdegamberi among the protagonists, has chosen to ignore real solutions: he avoided participating in European LIFE projects, refusing significant funding that could have been allocated to prevention and the professionalisation of breeders in learning appropriate prevention strategies.