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Appennine Wolf
The Wolf, chosen as symbol of the Majella National Park, is the most
representative animal of this territory that always saw the coexistence of "shepherd"
man with this predator.
At the beginning of Seventies it has been regarded as a dying species
because of the persecution committed by the man; today, thanks to a series
of favourable conditions - among which the creation of protected areas, the
neglect of sheep farming and the increase of selvatic herbivores - the
territorial expansion and the numerical growth of the wolf are encouraging
elements for the future of this animal.
It is a very important and positive sign, even if in the future, it will
have to stem the clash between the man and this animal through activities
that aim to promote a positive image of this predator.
The Park, according to the Federative Agreement made with the National Park
of Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga, began a research project that will last
two years, in order to fix the picture of available food resources for this
great predator. The last target will be the planning of several
interventions, which will be carried out in the territories of these Parks
in the next years, in order to increase the numerical growth of the wolf.
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Description |
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The wolf (Canis lupus) is a Carnivorous ancestor of domestic
dog, which conserved many features of its progenitor. The size
is that of a medium dimension dog (30 - 40 Kg) with longer arms,
powerful thorax, head with larger and receding frontlet, oblique
eyes and straight ears. From a physiological point of view, the
wolf keeps on breeding just one time per year, while the dog
does it twice per year. The coat shades from deep beige of the
ventral portion into beige-reddish of flanks until blackish of
the large caparison that runs along the back and the tail. There
are still now disputes about the zoological classification of
the Apennine Wolf, in particular about the likelihood of being
assigned to the status of subspecies (in that case the
denomination should be “Canis lupus italicus”). This animal is
featured by peculiar ecological adaptations to the
mountain-mediterranean environment because of its long genetic
isolation. |
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Behaviour |
Territorial species with a large ecologic flexibility that
allows this predator to live in very different environments. The
wolves generally live in packs where the young ones stay wiht
their parents at least for one year. The size of pack is
connected with the food resources and to the size and
ethological features of preys; at times the groups can be formed
by specimens from different generations usually descending from
a family. The likelihood that grown-up specimens join with a
pre-existing pack is very unusual.
The wolves cooperate in the various activities (food finding,
searching, predation, surveillance, etc). The pack is set in
hierarchies (male, female, as well as a youth hierarchy in
continuous evolution); hence the different classes of dominance
become the instrument mitigating the aggressiveness among the
specimens; the effect is that struggles inside the social group
rarely reach bloody outcomes. The male finds the nourishment for
the female and its cubs. The communication inside the pack and
between groups occurs through the odorous marking (urine and
faeces), left in outstanding spots of the territory, and the
vocalizations; in particular the howling can be used in order to
edge their territories or as call. |
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Feeding |
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The nourishing is that of pure carnivorous: big size animals
such as deers, roes and wild boars, as well tame ovines and
bovines, but also small vertebrates, carcases and waste. The
predation of bred cattle caused the persecution of wolves and in
certain places it also carried out to the species extinction. |
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Habitat |
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The wood is its haunt. The wolf, since its livability, lives and
uses the most differing environments. Very often it can be also
sighted in the edges of the anthropized areas, especially next
to the dumps. The Apennines Parks are draining the territory
from the dumps and requalifying it through the reintroduction of
wild Ungulates in order to gradually give back to the Apennine
Wolf its primal (and correct!) role of superpredator. |
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Presence |
In winter it is easier to find signs of its presence, in
particular the foot-marks left on the snow. The wolf track is
generally featured by a uniform direction with very few detours.
If many wolves walk in the high snow, then it is normal to
regard it as an only track; but it can be guessed the specimens
are more than one just when the group parts in order to look
better over the territory in search of available preys or
rest-spots. The howling is another sign of its presence, in
particular during the twilight or nightly hours. The period in
which is most likely to listen extemporary howls is the winter,
before the mating period that occurs between February and March.
The attack of domestic preys can be connected to the wolf if
only supported by finding other signs of its presence. The
excrements too can be regarded as evidence, but they have to be
carefully checked. |
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Sighting |
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The wolf is thought as a fleeting animal with typical nocturnal
habits, so it isn’t easy to sight it even if, at times, it can
be found in bizarre locations and hours at all. |
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Life Span |
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As for all the wild animals it has to make a distinction between
the life span in natural conditions and in captivity one. In
nature, the wolf can live 8-10 years, while in captivity can
reach 14-15 years, since the wear of its teeth (fundamental
instrument for the predator survival) strongly changes depending
on the physical stress the animal stando during the predation (not
present in captivity) and on the waste of energy connected to
the food research (high in nature, unimportant in captivity). |
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Edited by Dr. Giorgio Boscagli
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