7a To invest in the future – Via dei Lupi – English Version

Biology

Reproduction

The mating season coincides with the winter months. Unlike dogs, wolves reproduce only once a year. Only the dominant male and female mate within the pack; this mechanism, together with territoriality, contributes to the regulation of the wolf population, which must be adapted to the feeding and spatial resources of a territory. The litter, born in the spring, is composed of 2 to 6 puppies and the whole pack collaborates in its breeding. The young wolves born in previous years help parents in this task, reinforcing family ties and gaining needed experience when they will become parents themselves.

In the first weeks of life puppies are very dependent on the mother who nurses them and keeps them in a real den, moving them if necessary by carrying them by the scruff. When they are more independent the puppies reside in a wider area, outdoors, but with dense vegetation and hiding places, called “rendez-vous“, the heart of the pack’s territory, where young wolves await the return of the adults from the hunt.

After breastfeeding, the puppies are weaned with the food that adults regurgitate at their request, when the little ones persistently lick their snout, a typical wolf behaviour at this stage. In the period of socialization puppies are more curious and autonomous and the interaction between them and with adults increases, mimicking for fun the struggles and pursuits that will mark out their future life.

History

Birth of protected areas

The first protected areas emerged in the United States of America in the late 1800s and were characterized as true sanctuaries, driven by the romantic idea of pristine nature as a mother and mirror of the soul.

In Europe, the concept of a protected area necessarily had to deal with a much more anthropized territory than the vast expanses of the American expanses, and the search for harmony between nature and human activities immediately distinguished these realities.

In Italy, the first protected area was established whwn King Vittorio Emanuele III donated a portion of his hunting reserve to the Italian state, which became the initial nucleus of the Gran Paradiso National Park, estabilished on December 3, 1922, to protect the last population of Alpine ibex.

The Abruzzo National Park was estabilished shortly thereafter, on January 11, 1923. On the right, an excerpt from the historical map of the Park.

The Circeo National Park was estabilshed in 1934 and Stelvio National Park in 1935.
For a long time, they remained Italy’s only protected areas, gradually joined by other areas until 1991, when the framework law on protected areas reclassified and defined them, estabilishing an official list and adding scientific and valorization purposes to the country’s vast and diverse natural heritage in addition to their strictly conservation and protection purposes.

Curiosity

Role of protected areas

The priorities of a National Protected Natural Area are to maintain, preserve and enhance the country’s natural heritage. By expanding its horizons to the Earth, the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) has the mission to persuade, encourage and assist societies around the world, in order to preserve the integrity and diversity of nature. These high goals, expressed with noble words, are the reasons behind the establishment of Parks and Reserves, and cannot and must never be called into question. They are the essential nucleus of any action of environmental protection and, it is worth emphasizing, even of Man, too.

Combining this care and protection, emanating often from the central authorities, with the life of local populations is among the most delicate issues, subject of controversy. So today, in order to carry out their institutional goals efficiently, it is important for Protected Natural Areas to regain their authority, with a change in perspective.

This will have to go through the search for new ways and ideas leading to experiment and promote new practices, which will transform the protected territories into real “innovative laboratories of life”, where the fair and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources will be expression of harmony, sense of joy and serenity. A decisive step, where protection, conservation and enhancement of the territory will be an expression of desirable lifestyle. A balance between Preserving and Progressing in a civil way, for the benefit of Nature and Man.