In recent times, the relationship between humans and wildlife has been growing increasingly fraught. A striking example was the case of bear Daniza, killed on 11 September in Trentino. The latest episode involves wolves. These predators, after teetering on the brink of extinction — in the 1970s there were barely one hundred individuals — have returned to howl across many parts of the peninsula, thanks to effective conservation efforts and European protection laws such as the Bern Convention.

The presence of wolves, however, is unwelcome among farmers, who report ongoing attacks on their livestock. Riding this wave of discontent, the Lega mayor of Verona, Flavio Tosi, has issued an ordinance authorising citizens to "shoot wolves" found in the valleys of the Lessinia Natural Park. Tosi, who also serves as president of Federcaccia Veneto, speaks of self-defence, as though the animals were criminals — as though we were not talking about wild animals that, beyond any moral judgement, are reclaiming a territory from which they were violently driven out.

The State Forestry Corps was quick to respond, reporting the politician in order to protect Giulietta, Slavc and their eight cubs — the only wolves present in the park on the outskirts of Verona. The charge against Tosi is that of having authorised the culling of a protected species. The WWF backs the Forestry Corps' position, while Coldiretti defends the mayor's decision. "Around 50 per cent of the Veneto's cattle and sheep stock is concentrated in that area, and the presence of wolves could cause serious damage to the local economy," the association explains, adding that "farmers are also complaining that regional funds are insufficient to compensate for the losses caused by attacks from predators."

The indiscriminate killing of wolves, besides being barbaric, is not a solution. The wolf is an apex predator, it is native to the area and regulates the ecosystem. Since its population has grown, that of wild boar — animals that are extremely damaging to agriculture and whose numbers had been growing exponentially — has simultaneously returned to normal levels. An ecosystem is "designed" to self-regulate, and all its constituent elements, from predators to herbivores to plants, are interconnected. The loss of apex species triggers a mechanism known as a "trophic cascade" — a chain of effects that ripples downward, striking every lower level of the food chain. The disappearance of predators causes uncontrolled growth among large herbivores, and that growth does not stop before the vegetation has been severely depleted, damaging woodland and forests — sometimes irreparably.

Despite the report, Tosi has already forwarded his measure to the mayors of the small villages in the valley, who will soon adopt an identical one allowing people to shoot wolves near inhabited areas — with no consideration of how dangerous it may be to use firearms near populated centres. Never mind the wolves.