WWF laments "one of the most serious wildlife crimes of the last 10 years" in Italy.Ten wolves have been found dead within and around a national park in central Italy, in what wildlife authorities believe to be a deliberate poisoning campaign.The grim discoveries in the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise has prompted the opening of a criminal investigation and sparked an outcry from conservation organisations. Five carcasses were found on Wednesday morning in the municipality of Alfedena, in the province of L'Aquila, where remains consistent with poisoned bait were found at the site. The discovery was made all the more alarming by the finding of five further wolf carcasses a short distance away in the territory of Pescasseroli a few days earlier. Investigators are working to establish whether the two incidents are connected. Post-mortem examinations have been entrusted to the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Abruzzo and Molise, with poisoning considered the most likely cause of death.  Unacceptable In a statement, WWF Italia described the events as one of the most serious wildlife crimes in Italy in the past decade, slamming it as "unacceptable criminality in a civilized counry". The park authorities condemned what they called an "illegal" and "extremely serious" act, warning that the use of poisoned bait poses an indiscriminate threat to all wildlife in the area, including the Marsican brown bear - a critically endangered subspecies for which the park is a flagship conservation site. The WWF linked the killings to a broader pattern of illegal persecution. Days before the Abruzzo discoveries, two wolves were killed and mutilated in Tuscany. Protected status The organisation warned that a "climate of hatred" towards wolves is being fuelled in part by recent political decisions weakening the species' legal protection. The European Union, the signatory states of the Bern Convention, and the Italian government under Giorgia Meloni have supported a downgrading of the wolf's protected status - from "strictly protected" to merely "protected" - which opened the door to lethal control measures. The first legal culling of wolves in Italy in 50 years took place in the northern Alto Adige region last summer. The WWF argued that this downgrading will not reduce illegal killings but risks instead "legitimising illegal behaviour and encouraging poaching". The organisation stated that it intends to join the case as a civil party in the event of a trial.  

Ten wolves have been found dead within and around a national park in central Italy, in what wildlife authorities believe to be a deliberate poisoning campaign. The grim discoveries in the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise has prompted the opening of a criminal investigation and sparked an outcry from conservation organisations. Five carcasses were found on Wednesday morning in the municipality of Alfedena, in the province of L'Aquila, where remains consistent with poisoned bait were found at the site. The discovery was made all the more alarming by the finding of five further wolf carcasses a short distance away in the territory of Pescasseroli a few days earlier. Investigators are working to establish whether the two incidents are connected. Post-mortem examinations have been entrusted to the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Abruzzo and Molise, with poisoning considered the most likely cause of death.  In , WWF Italia described the events as one of the most serious wildlife crimes in Italy in the past decade, slamming it as "unacceptable criminality in a civilized counry". The park authorities condemned what they called an "illegal" and "extremely serious" act, warning that the use of poisoned bait poses an indiscriminate threat to all wildlife in the area, including the Marsican brown bear - a critically endangered subspecies for which the park is a flagship conservation site. The WWF linked the killings to a broader pattern of illegal persecution. Days before the Abruzzo discoveries, two wolves were killed and mutilated in Tuscany. The organisation warned that a "climate of hatred" towards wolves is being fuelled in part by recent political decisions weakening the species' legal protection. The European Union, the signatory states of the Bern Convention, and the Italian government under Giorgia Meloni have supported a downgrading of the wolf's protected status - from "strictly protected" to merely "protected" - which opened the door to lethal control measures. The first legal culling of wolves in Italy in 50 years took place in the northern Alto Adige region last summer. The WWF argued that this downgrading will not reduce illegal killings but risks instead "legitimising illegal behaviour and encouraging poaching". The organisation stated that it intends to join the case as a civil party in the event of a trial.