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During 1950s in Italy wild boar (Sus scrofa) was close to extinction. Then, several introduction, re-introduction and restocking operations have been legally carried out by local administrations, or illegally by hunters for hunting purpose, so as to make the management of this species particularly problematic and needing a careful and farsighted approach. In order to limit the increasing damage to crops and biocenosis, containment plans have been carried out, even in hunting-free areas, through selective cull and capture with steady or movable cage. The destination of captured animals is the critical point of this kind of management, not only for the effectiveness of this practice but above all for animal welfare. Often these animals are destinated to game farms, private hunting areas or hunting dogs training areas. Moreover, transport of live wild boars to slaughterhouses does not respect animal welfare standards and is in contrast with European legislation for animal welfare during transport and animal management in slaughterhouse. Considering the current practices, the authors outline the current legislative framework on the subject and propose indications to include the activities of wild boar containment within the commercial chain of wild game meat. Moreover, the transport of alive wild boars to slaughterhouses is in contrast with European Regulation admitting this transport only for listed farmed animals. Considering the above-mentioned practices, the Authors outline the current legislative framework on the subject, and in the context of the activities of containment of wild boars, ask for an immediate suppression of the animals directly on the capture location, avoiding any subsequent handling and transport., Rassegna di Diritto, Legislazione e Medicina Legale Veterinaria, V. 17, N. 3 (2018): RASSEGNA

The emergency of infection by highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) subtype H5N1 has focused the attention of the world scientific community, requiring the prompt provision of effective control systems for early detection of the circulation of low pathogenic influenza H5 viruses (LPAI) in populations of wild birds to prevent outbreaks of highly pathogenic (HPAI) in populations of domestic birds with possible transmission to humans. The project stems from the aim to provide, through a preliminary analysis of data obtained from surveillance in Italy and Europe, a preliminary study about the virus detection rates and the development of mathematical models, an objective assessment of the effectiveness of avian influenza surveillance systems in wild bird populations, and to point out guidelines to support the planning process of the sampling activities. The results obtained from the statistical processing quantify the sampling effort in terms of time and sample size required, and simulating different epidemiological scenarios identify active surveillance as the most suitable for endemic LPAI infection monitoring in wild waterfowl, and passive surveillance as the only really effective tool in early detecting HPAI H5N1 circulation in wild populations. Given the lack of relevant information on H5N1 epidemiology, and the actual finantial and logistic constraints, an approach that makes use of statistical tools to evaluate and predict monitoring activities effectiveness proves to be of primary importance to direct decision-making and make the best use of available resources.