A point in favour of wolves. The TAR of Veneto has ruled against the order issued last week by Mayor Flavio Tosi authorising citizens to shoot wolves. The Mayor of Verona, who is also president of Federcaccia Veneto, had also been reported by the State Forestry Corps on charges of having authorised the culling of a protected species.

"I did what I believed was right to draw attention to the problem of the Lessinia farmers harmed by the presence of wolves, and that objective has been achieved," Tosi said in his defence. "My impression, in any case, reading the operative part of the TAR Veneto ruling, is that my order may have been read somewhat carelessly." The mayor thus presses his own theory, clinging to the notion of "self-defence". The wolves living in the park on the outskirts of Verona — a pair with eight cubs — are, for now, safe, thanks to an appeal brought by two animal rights organisations, the Lega abolizione della Caccia, and Pro Natura.

"Our obvious grounds concerning the blatant violation, on the part of the mayor, of national provisions on wildlife protection, the regulation of hunting and the lawful use of firearms were immediately recognised," said Graziella Zavalloni, national president of the Lac. "Outbursts of this kind, even if merely propagandistic, are not admissible in a state governed by the rule of law."

Only two months ago, the birth of the wolf litter — regarded as an extraordinary biological event, being the offspring of a union between an Italian wolf and a Dinaric-Balkan wolf, two populations that had had no contact for centuries — had been greeted with joy by the President of Veneto, Luca Zaia. "I consider the new litter an asset that enhances the value of Veneto and the Veronese mountains."

The final decision on the fate of the Lessinia wolves will come on 5 November. The loss of this animal would represent a defeat for our country. It is the duty of institutions to improve and make fairer the compensation system for farmers, to support pastoral businesses and to promote preventive measures such as electric fencing and the use of sheepdogs. Only in this way will we be able to hear wolves howling in the night for a long time to come.