In addition to the heart of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, other similar incidents are reported throughout the region. A few infamous criminals, aided by the total lack of any preventive control over the territory, cast a shadow of shame over the entire Abruzzo community.
At least 12 wolves have been found poisoned to death in Abruzzo in the past 15 days. The most serious episodes, after the one in Corcumello, occurred in Pescasseroli and Alfedena, where 10 specimens lost their lives, in addition to several carcasses of other small wildlife and some birds of prey, a sign of an impact that goes beyond just the target species and involves the entire ecosystem.
The killings that have occurred are unjustifiable and represent a serious wound to the land and those who inhabit and protect it. Poisoning is a cowardly and cowardly act, which can in no way be justified as a response to alleged problems of “land management” or “defense of productive activities.” Behind every animal that dies from poisoning is a deliberate and indiscriminate act that causes extreme suffering and endangers not only wildlife, but also domestic animals and the balance of the entire ecosystem. Responsibility, however, cannot be attributed only to those who materially carry out these acts. Equally serious is the failure to prevent what happened, despite the fact that signs and previous cases were already evident. Episodes such as that of 2023, in which at least 9 wolves and 5 griffon vultures were killed by poisoned baits between the area of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park and the area of Cocullo (AQ), have not led to an effective reinforcement of controls nor to concrete and continuous interventions on the territory.
This lack of prevention and institutional presence, especially in areas outside the parks, contributes to areas where illegality seems to be able to operate without consequence, with devastating effects on wildlife and on the very credibility of environmental protection. Inaction, in these cases, is complicity.
And equally serious is the silence. Those who know, and do not speak up, are choosing sides. The omertà around these episodes is as much a poison as that spread in the woods: it protects the guilty, isolates the whistleblowers, normalizes lawlessness. Poisoning means striking without control: wolves, foxes, dogs, birds of prey. Tomorrow it could be a Marsican brown bear. It has probably already happened given the discovery of the remains of a specimen of this species a month ago in the same area. And when it happens again, it will be too late to be outraged. We at Salviamo l’Orso will not accept this being dismissed as yet another isolated incident. It isn’t. It is the result of a sick climate in which those who destroy wildlife and poison the land feel free to do so, certain that they will pay no consequences.
Immediate accountability is needed. We need controls, serious investigations, exemplary sanctions.
But above all, we need to break this wall of silence.
> Download and disseminate Press Release – Poison wipes out wolves and other wildlife in Alfedena and Pescasseroli