In recent years, wolves in Europe have almost doubled. Good news, in some ways. Bad for many others. The challenge is to find a way to live.
A recent research by the Swedish university of agricultural sciences, published in the magazine Plos Sustainability and Transformationhe ascertained that in 34 European countries the overall population of Lupi, in 2022, was at least 21,500 specimens: considering that, ten years earlier, there were 12,000, it means that in the last two years the European wolves have almost doubled.
Assalti. Italy, with over 3 thousand specimens, is among the countries with multiple wolves. With what consequences? Every year, the wolves kill about 56,000 pets in the EU (0.02% of the total), with compensation for damages that costs 17 million euros per year.
Peaceful coexistence. In Italy there were about 10 thousand assaults on cattle, sheep and goats. But, the researchers underline, the impact of the wolves is not only negative, since they reduce the populations of wild deer that produce damage to forest plantations and cause road accidents. The challenge for the years to come, concludes the research, will be to be able to guarantee the peaceful coexistence between men and wolves.
