The Italian wolf is in danger, threatened by a subtle and still little-studied phenomenon: hybridisation with dogs. We took part in the Educational Tour of the Life M.I.R.Co-lupo Project to find out more.
The beech forests are gradually turning towards the warm colours of autumn, lending a magical atmosphere to the woodland; ripe chestnuts fall to the ground with dull thuds, and in the distance the haunting bellow of rutting stags heralds the advancing night. We are in the Orecchiella nature reserve, in the province of Lucca, in the heart of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park. Here, from 28 to 30 September, we took part in the Educational Tour of the Life M.I.R.Co-lupo Project (an acronym standing for Minimizzare l'Impatto del Randagismo canino sulla COnservazione del lupo, or Minimising the Impact of Canine Strays on Wolf Conservation), a workshop for journalists aimed at promoting accurate information about the wolf (Canis lupus italicus) and in particular about hybridisation between wolves and dogs — topics that are very much in the news and all too often distorted and exploited by the media.
A pioneering project is under way in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park that in some ways recalls the endeavour of three young researchers — Luigi Boitani, Erik Zimen and David Mech — who in 1972 carried out the first ever census of the Italian wolf. In this area, a small group of researchers — Willy Reggioni, Francesca Moretti, Luigi Molinari, Francesca Orsoni and Mia Canestrini — is working to save the Apennine wolf from a subtle and currently underestimated threat: hybridisation with dogs.
When discussing the wolf — undoubtedly Italy's most debated animal, incapable of generating neutral opinions — it is worth immediately clearing up a common misconception, one so widespread that it has by now become broadly accepted as truth. It concerns the supposed reintroduction of wolves, and it is an entirely false claim: no wolf has ever been reintroduced in Italy. They simply never left, despite our best efforts to make them disappear. In the 1970s the wolf had been almost completely wiped out, with only a few residual packs surviving in Abruzzo, the Sila and the Sibillini (in 1972 barely a hundred individuals existed in the wild). Until 1971, wolf hunting was not only legal but even incentivised; these animals were classified as a harmful species and killed by every means available, including poisoned bait (full protection of the species was established in 1976 by the Marcora Decree), and in every location, including protected areas, by the park wardens themselves. The wolf was still considered a ferocious beast, and even some prominent zoologists called for its extinction. The entry into force of national and European laws protecting the wolf, combined with the progressive depopulation of mountain and foothill areas and the increase in its natural prey, allowed the species to grow and slowly return to its ancient territories, moving from the Apennine forests to the western Alps. The wolf demonstrated a remarkable capacity for recovery and adaptation to new environments that had, in the meantime, been altered by socioeconomic developments during its absence.
Hybridisation occurs when wolves and dogs mate. The most common pairing in the wild — and the most detrimental in terms of wild species conservation — is between a male dog and a female wolf. Anthropogenic hybridisation, meaning hybridisation that is not natural but caused or facilitated by human activity, is currently considered in Italy the primary threat to the conservation of the species, as it risks compromising its genetic integrity. Hybrids are generally described as more confident and therefore potentially more dangerous to livestock and humans. In reality there is no evidence that the behaviour of hybrids and pure wolves differs: "in order to detect a behavioural difference, a robust description of pure wolf behaviour would be needed, which is very difficult to produce for a number of reasons — not least because the wolf is a highly adaptable animal with a tremendously broad ecological and behavioural range," explained project coordinator Willy Reggioni.
The main cause of this phenomenon is the improper management of domestic dogs, whether they are privately owned dogs occasionally left free to roam, sheepdogs, or strays.
Crossbreeding a wild species such as the wolf with a domestic one such as the dog risks altering the characteristics of wolves, likely making them less suited to life in the wild. In this way we could lose a life form shaped by nature into the principal predator of the northern hemisphere — a true natural work of art — because, as project technician Dr Mia Canestrini points out, "biodiversity is nature's artistic heritage."
At present this question cannot be answered. Wolf-dog hybridisation is a scientifically recent subject and no comprehensive studies currently exist. In the area examined by the researchers, approximately 20 per cent of the animals analysed were hybrid specimens. This percentage cannot, however, be extended to other areas of Italy.
The project, which began in 2015 and will conclude in 2020, is co-funded by the European Union and involves five partners: the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park, the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, the Forest Carabinieri, the company Carsa Edizioni e Comunicazione of Pescara, and the non-profit association Istituto di Ecologia Applicata of Rome. The ultimate aim of the project is, naturally, the conservation of the wolf; to achieve this, the focus is on addressing the loss of the species' genetic identity caused by hybridisation, through neutralising the reproductive potential of wolf-dog hybrid individuals and reducing the impact of canine strays.
The main activities of the Life M.I.R.Co-lupo project technicians consist of sterilising captured hybrids, which are then released back into the wild (thus differing from the barely sustainable solution adopted in other parts of Italy, which involves the permanent captivity of the animals), and promoting correct demographic and health management practices for dogs used in livestock farming, by offering farmers free registration on the canine registry, sterilisation, and basic vaccinations. The project also aims to develop an operational definition of wolf-dog hybrid and to test management strategies that are sustainable from every perspective and can be replicated elsewhere.
During our stay in the Orecchiella reserve, we had the privilege of hearing the howl of a wolf free in its natural habitat, prompted by the wolf-howling technique. It lasted only a few seconds, but hearing that primordial call on a warm late-September night — powerful and melancholic at once, seeming to come from a distant age — made us wish with even greater force that this pioneering species conservation project succeeds, and that the howl of the Apennine wolf may continue to resonate for a long time to come.