Camera traps have documented the presence of six wolf cubs in the Magredi area of the Pordenone district. A welcome sign that confirms the expansion of the species.
Little by little, one piece at a time, wolves (Canis lupus italicus) are returning to colonise their ancient territories, from which their ancestors were driven out with disproportionate violence, through shooting and poisoning. This time it is the turn of Friuli Venezia Giulia: camera traps installed by researchers from the University of Udine, as part of a monitoring project on the wolf and the golden jackal (Canis aureus), have captured footage of six wolf cubs playing together.
The researchers believe the cubs belong to a pair that has been spotted since 2017 in the Magredi area of the Pordenone district, a vast plain bounded by two large watercourses, the Meduna and the Cellina, rich in biodiversity and habitats of community interest. Experts consider them to be the first wolf cubs born in the region in ninety years.
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It bears repeating, should there be any need, that the presence of the wolf is extremely valuable for ecosystem balance. These sophisticated predators sit at the top of the food chain and trigger various trophic cascades. This means they change not only the numbers of their prey, but also those of species with which they have no direct connection whatsoever. Their impact cascades through the entire food chain, in some cases literally altering the structure of the ecosystem. In this regard, the best-known example is the change that followed the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
"These are in all likelihood the first wolf cubs born in Friuli Venezia Giulia in over ninety years," explained Stefano Filacorda, coordinator of wildlife research projects at the University of Udine. "The species had in fact disappeared from the region and from the north-east as early as the beginning of the twentieth century. The last wolf killed in the north-east is thought to date back to 1931 in the Comelico area, only to reappear with occasional sightings on the Trieste karst thanks to the presence of some Slovenian wolves."
The brief but moving videos, released by the University of Udine and filmed by Andrea Vendramin, zoologist at the University of Udine and member of the association Villaggio degli orsi, show the wolf cubs busy playing near an area set up for collecting biological samples from wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris). One clip shows the cubs playfully biting each other (without much conviction, it must be said), while another shows a cub playing with a stick.
Genetic analysis is needed to establish with certainty the actual origin of the cubs, but the Friulian scientists already have precise information about their presumed parents. "Of the pair of wolves present in the area — presumably the parents of the six cubs — the female comes from a pack in the Lessinia and the male, reported in 2015–2016 in the province of Treviso, from the Italian population," stated Andrea Vendramin. "Further investigations are needed to confirm the presence of an additional pair of wolves in the area of the upper Pordenone plain and the Carnic Prealps."
The wolf monitoring initiatives in Friuli, coordinated by the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, form part of the European project Life Wolf Alps. The Friuli Venezia Giulia region also promotes the use of livestock protection systems to mitigate the conflict between people and wolves and encourage the return of the predators (a trained dog remains the best deterrent), and provides for compensation for damage caused by large carnivores.