Italy: In the land of the wolves

Announcement

Original announcement of the event on this website (April 2010)

For the GEO articles in Italian language, please go to the downloads section.

The wilderness is back

Dryocopus martius). Or Alpine tozzia (Tozzia alpina), a parasitic plant. Or the orchid Epipactis helleborine, glowing white and lonely from the brush. At the Giornata della biodiversita two other mountain ranges on the Apennine peninsula, home, too, to substantial populations of the grey predator, are the destination of specialists for flora and fauna: the Abruzzi National Park and the National Park in the deserted Maritime Alps in the northwest of Turin.

The stocktaking in the Apennine begins in the blue-light-equipped 4x4-van of the Corpo Forestale

Now, at daytime, no wolf can be seen or heard atop the Apennine ridge. But his tracks can't be missed. The thick scent of the predator is in the air. Forestale-captain Angelo Salvaguardi detects fresh droppings in the sparse grass, right next to a delicate Scilla (Scilla sp.

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Findings and conclusions

"Just like Germany sixty years ago"

Anthocaris cardamines) and the Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus). The abundance of insects in the habitat attracts bats. Scientists located the Soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus), only recently identified as a distinct species, and the closely related Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus). Rare birds were found, too, such as the Ortolan bunting (Emberiza hortulana), the once omnipresent but nowadays threatened Italian sparrow (Passer italiae), and the Crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestrisTriturus carnifex), the Alpine newt (Triturus alpestris), and the Common newt (Triturus vulgaris).