The wolf a stone’s throw from the city. It happened on Sunday morning, shortly after 8am, when sightings of a single specimen of the wild animal began near the town of Linaro. As the crow flies, a few hundred meters from the Pedagna district of Imola. The canine ran around the fields in the area, then crossed the provincial Montanara road in front of the Villa Gambetti park, going up towards Via Punta. The rapid sortie was also filmed by a parked motorist equipped with a smartphone and the video was posted on social media by former regional councilor Roberto Poli, resulting in hundreds of likes and dozens of comments. But that is not all. About forty minutes later, a new face to face with what would be a wolf. This time on the slopes of via Poggiolo shortly after the junction with via Morine, a route also quite frequented by runners and walkers: “It was a few meters from our house. It was staring at us and didn’t seem at all intimidated by our presence – explained some residents, the first to notice the shape of the beast in the midst of the greenery -. We have been finding large suspicious footprints for months and one night, on our way home, we saw one slipping into a grove around here.”
Experts point out that the wolf is not dangerous to humans (a single case in the last century involved the behavior of a single wolf in Abruzzo, ed.) and, generally, keeps away from people. Furthermore, the species has been fully protected by the State since 1976 with very strict laws. Of course, in recent times, sightings have multiplied. Especially in the Santerno valley. A coexistence which, when close, may not be so easy.
Hunters and farmers in the area know this well. A year and a half ago, in fact, the one who paid the price was a Maremma shepherd engaged in a wild boar hunting trip in Rio Quercioli-Sesdetto in Castel del Rio. And at the time the mayor of the town, Alberto Baldazzi, confided: “An alarming picture because these specimens get close to inhabited areas and attack our animals. We will request an evaluation on the topic by the experts of the Region and Metropolitan City. We must safeguard the safety and serenity of the community”. Not to mention, last January, the slaughter caused by a pack of hungry wolves in via Goccianello in Imola, just three kilometers from the curves of the racetrack. A devastating raid, complete with the incursion of canids into a fence, which left ten pregnant ewes and seven good-sized lambs on the ground lifeless.
