As of: January 29, 2024, 3:39 p.m
By: Julian Mayr
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A wolf chases a woman and her child in Trentino.
The fact that the animal seems to have lost its shyness could be due to human error.
Pozza di Fassa/Trentino – Very few people in Europe will ever see a wolf in the wild.
And yet the large carnivore is spreading again and is also appearing in unusual areas.
Farmers and livestock farmers in particular are increasingly complaining about the damage caused by wolves and other predators.
However, encounters with wolves that also cause harm to people are extremely rare.
However, wolves are increasingly venturing into inhabited areas and losing all fear of people, as recently happened in Italy.
Video shows: Wolf chases mother with stroller in Trentino
A video making the rounds on the internet, shot in the small village of Pozza di Fassa in Trentino, Italy, shows two cross-country skiers using a cross-country ski trail near the village.
And a wolf also walks through the snow in the foreground.
This is not unusual in the northern Italian province, home to over 200 wolves in dozens of packs.
The predators often visit busy places and settlements.
However, moments later, the video filmed by Pierluigi Orler reveals the wolf approaching a woman with a stroller walking through the snow.
At first the animal keeps a safe distance, but then seems to get closer and closer to the woman and her child.
The wolf follows her for a few meters before continuing on his way without incident, as can be seen at the end of the video.
This meeting nevertheless sparked discussions.
Zoologist after mother was persecuted by predator: “Whoever fed this wolf is an idiot”
Local media reports claim that the wolf is a specimen that has lost its fear of humans.
This was due to people who lured the wolf with food and even posed for photos with it, according to the online portal
il Dolomiti.
“Whoever fed this wolf is an irresponsible idiot,” explains Luigi Boitani, professor of zoology at the University of Sapienza in Rome and president of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE).
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Whether the wolf shown in the video is actually the animal in question, which has previously caused a stir, can only be clearly determined through DNA samples.
Experts from the EU project Life Wolfalps confirmed this to
La Repubblica
.
Wolf situation in Trentino has “come to a head”
However, it does not seem to be the first and only wolf to have caused a stir in Trentino in recent years.
“The situation in our valleys has continued to deteriorate and the authorities have done nothing.
Despite numerous videos of animals being attracted to people with food and becoming friendly,” says Paolo Scarian in an interview with
il Dolomiti
.
He has been documenting wolf sightings in the region for years in his own Facebook group.
In the northern Italian province of Trentino, a wolf chased a mother with her stroller.
© Bruno D'Amicis//Nature Picture Library/Imago
Environmental protection organizations such as the WWF also complain about the lack of information campaigns for tourists and residents in areas with large carnivores.
“The presence of an animal that loses its natural fear of humans is a problem caused by our behavior,” emphasizes Marco Antonelli, wildlife conservation expert at WWF Italy.
Walkers in the forest should adhere to certain rules of conduct if they encounter a wolf.
Planned to deter the wolf with rubber bullets
Meanwhile, the administration of Trentino has decided to drive the wolf away with rubber bullets, writes
Corriere del Trentino,
among others .
However, zoologist Boitani believes that this wolf needs to be removed from the wild.
Although friendly wolves are not necessarily a danger to humans, they are unpredictable.
"I don't think he would attack in a way that would be fatal, but it's certainly not worth the risk," he said.
However, removing the strictly protected wolf from the wild does not necessarily mean that the animal has to be killed.
In a similar case in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the wolf was captured and has been living in an enclosure ever since.
In the same region in June 2023, a woman and her dog were apparently attacked by a wolf.
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