Their team has recently introduced an innovative anti-poison dog unit. This pilot effort seeks to address a growing incidence of animal poisoning in Italy’s Apennines mountain range. Completing this experiment is a six-month-old malinois named Wild. One goal is to reverse the concerning trend of predator poisoning that endangers both wildlife and livestock. Wild is now back in training. In the next few months, it will serve an important purpose as an early warning system for new poisoning threats.
Virginia Sciore, a resident of the Apennines, has witnessed the cruel effect of this quagmire up close and personally. Since 2018, she has lost five goats to overwintering toxins, illustrating the criminal effects of the loss to frontline communities. In 2023, nine wolves were poisoned in Cocullo, a cultural practice that officials from the national park area called “medieval.” This heartbreaking incident highlights the immediate need for actions to stop the Santa Clara County region’s wildlife from suffering even more harm.
In a move that shocked conservationists, the European Union (EU) recently voted to roll back protections for wolves. Beginning in March 2025, protections for these animals will change from “strictly protected” to “protected.” This amendment would give states new authority to enact widespread culls whenever wolves are viewed as endangering rural livelihoods. However, the decision has triggered a furious argument between conservationists and policymakers.
“Downgrading wolf protection is a misguided decision that prioritises political gains over science and will further polarise the debate,” – NGOs (BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, and the European Environmental Bureau)
“It offers no real help to rural communities.” – NGOs (BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, and the European Environmental Bureau)
Since 2021, the Rewilding Apennines team has discovered 85 carcasses of various species, including wolves, goats, sheep, and other animals. These results further highlight the scale of illegal predator poisoning across Europe and its continuing up-listing as the main threat to biodiversity. Trying to measure the scope of such a problem continues to be difficult since animals can die where they can’t be seen.
the Apennines, which now includes the largest concentration of GPS-tagged vultures in the world. This natural laboratory provides on-the-ground, first-hand glimpses into their migrations that are both beautiful and fascinating. When a vulture’s GPS tag stops moving, it’s usually a bad sign—a big red flag for scientists and researchers that they may have been poisoned.
The dispute over wolves is indicative of a larger, more dangerous trend of backlash against enviro protections, seen all across Europe. As portrayed in our Wolves film, the reality that most farmers are dealing with is the reintroduction of wolves to places they’ve been wiped out for centuries. Now that these apex predators are reestablishing themselves in their historic ranges, U.S. farmers will need to learn to coexist with them again.
“Our findings emphasise that while wolves impact farmers, economic and policy-related factors play a greater role,” – researchers
Farmers such as Guido value the aesthetic aspect of wolves, though they too are caught on the razor’s edge. They need help protecting their livestock from the wolves’ effects.
“I find wolves beautiful, but I keep asking for help. It is just not possible to keep them away. And I’m aware if you shoot them, you will get more and more damage,” – Guido
Many farmers say they now feel empowered enough to try and take the process into their own hands.
“Groups of farmers can feel more free to act against wolves because of the change in the EU law,” – Angela Tavone
This sentiment is shared by Nicolò Borgianni of the Rewilding Apennines team.
“It was a bad day for the whole team,” – Nicolò Borgianni
“But there are many cases like this one.” – Nicolò Borgianni
“Farmers feel abandoned by government, so they solve their problems on their own,” – Nicolò Borgianni