As the wolf population in Italy increases, officials have been forced to take drastic measures.
As Euronews reported, residents have shared a number of videos of wild wolves across social media. From Pesaro to Cesena, more cities are becoming hotbeds for wandering wolves.
Several of these clips have captured the animals as they ventured into residential neighborhoods. In one case, a user caught a small pack of wolves attacking and eating a cat on the street.
One recent wolf sighting did more than just create a stir online. In Rimini, officials at San Marino Federico Fellini International Airport stopped all flights in early January after a pack of four wolves was spotted near the runway.
While only one scheduled flight was disrupted by the wolf delay, the situation highlights the issue with the country's growing wolf population. According to a report by the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, there were about 3,500 wolves in Italy in 2020-21, signifying a major increase over the prior several decades.
Per Euronews, residents in Rimini have formed a wolf emergency committee to keep the community safe.
"We must choose whether to leave our territory to wolves or to humans; there is no coexistence," it said in a statement.
Tania Bascucci, a nature scientist with the Wolf Help Desk, spoke to a local news outlet to offer advice on how to prevent unwanted encounters with wolves.
Bascucci explained that there are a number of often overlooked things that may attract the animals to nearby communities. This includes unsecured trash, dumpsters, and unattended dog food. In many cases, these can be easy sources of food for wolves.
While wolves are rarely known to attack humans, their increased presence could lead to a higher chance of encounters throughout Italian communities. However, Bascucci noted that wolves pose the biggest risk to pets and livestock.
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"Our advice is to keep the animals sheltered at night in a closed enclosure," Bascucci said. "A traditional 'anti-wolf' enclosure should be bent at about 45 degrees to prevent the animal from climbing through."
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