| Summary: | Orrido di Botri Natural Reserve and Orecchiella Natural Park are placed on the Tuscan side of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park, located at different altitudes (from 800 to 2054 m a.s.l.); 90-95% of its territory is dominated by woodland and the remaining area is grazing/pasture. This area is rich in red deer (Cervus elaphus)1, in mouflon (Ovis ammon ammon)2. in wild boars and there is an increasing number of wolves (Canis lupus) that, in Italy, is a strictly protected specie. This trial was carried out from January to April 2008, through some different methods of study: 1) pellet count method, walking twice a month along nine transepts, georeferenced trough Arc View 3.2 (five transects in the Orecchiella Reserve and four transects in the Orrido di Botri; transects were differently placed: four were at low altitude (1000-1300 a.s.l.) for a total of 36 km, four were at a medium altitude (1300-1500 a.s.l.) for a total of 24 km, and one was at high altitude (1500-2000 a.s.l.) for a total of 6 km; 2) pellet composition; 3) snow tracking, within 24 h from the fall of the snow, to facilitate the findings of the footsteps on the same transect described above3; 4) wolf-howling, before sunrise and after sunset of those days characterised by a wind speed lower than 12 km/h; 5) occasional findings of sign of predation, sleeping site, and so on. Data are reported in a database Excel and analysed for average value. The pellet count method permitted to find a total of 50 excrements definitely attributable to wolves (diameters equal or more than 2.5 cm)4: the higher total number were found in the Orecchiella Park (32 vs 18). If the comparison is done on the length of the transects, results are opposite because we find an average value of 1.52 pellet in Orecchiella Natural Park and an average of 4.5 in Orrido di Botri Reserve: this fact is explaining since this last area is very wild and unfrequented by man, being an excellent refuge for this animal5. Independently from the two different areas, the highest number of ...
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