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Although many studies highlighted the potential of COVID-19 to reshape existing models of wildlife management, empirical research on this topic has been scarce, particularly in Europe. We investigated the potential of COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate the ongoing decline in an aging population of recreational hunters in Italy. Namely, we modelled spatiotemporal trends between 2011 and 2021 in the number of recreational hunters in 50 Italian provinces with a varying incidence of COVID-19, and temporally delayed waves of infection. Compared to projections from 2011–2019 data, we detected a lower number of hunters who enrolled for the hunting season, both in 2020 (14 provinces) and in 2021 (15 provinces). The provinces with the highest incidence of COVID-19 in the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions were also those experiencing the most marked decrease in hunting participation. Our findings revealed that a wildlife management system based on recreational hunting can be rapidly destabilized by epidemics and their associated public health measures, particularly when the average age of hunters is high, like in Italy. Considered the high incidence attained by COVID-19 in many European countries, where hunters are pivotal for the management of large ungulates and where they were already declining before the pandemic, our findings call for further large-scale research about the impact of COVID-19 on hunting participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus, a medium-sized scavenging bird, is the most-threatened bird species in Italy, with only 10–12 breeding pairs in 2019 distributed in three regions of Southern Italy. With this study, we aim to describe the first documented breeding of Egyptian vulture in Sardinia and to understand which temporal and environmental factors affected its frequentation of a supplementary feeding station. We monitored the nest used during 2019 through direct observations, and the use of the feeding station through camera traps. We fitted a Bayesian Generalised Additive Model to model the effect of the day of the year, the hour of the day, wind direction and wind speed on the presence of Egyptian vulture in a specific hourly time slot at the supplementary feeding station. The chick hatched around 5 July 2019, and it fledged around 21 September. The Egyptian vulture had two peaks of frequentation at the supplementary feeding station: a first one in June, and a second, more important one, between late August and early September. The probability of recording Egyptian vulture peaked between 10:00 and 16:00, and was affected by wind direction, with a slightly higher chance of recording Egyptian vulture when winds came from South-West, West or even North-West, and a lower chance when winds were eastward. This study marks an important step in the conservation of the Egyptian vulture in Italy; it provides an example of spontaneous colonisation, and of the increased attractiveness of the habitat for scavenging birds linked to the actions implemented within a LIFE project. To better target future conservation efforts, it is important to continue with the monitoring and to perform genetic analyses to assess the origin of the individuals. First reproduction of Egyptian vulture in Sardinia. Assessing the effect of the day of the year, the hour of the day, wind direction and wind speed on the probability of presence at a feeding station near the nest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conservation of Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus), the most abundant and widespread vulture in Europe, has been the focus of two LIFE project in Sardinia, that foresaw, among other actions, the release of individuals to increase population size. Within the project LIFE Under Griffon Wings (2015-2020), out of 76 Griffon Vultures that have been released in North Western Sardinia, 43 have been fitted with GPS/GSM tags. On the 3rd of April 2023, one of these Griffon Vultures, named "Caniga", crossed the Strait of Bonifacio and reached Corsica. It stayed on the island for 20 days, before returning to Sardinia on the 23rd of April. Despite Griffon Vultures have been occasionally reported in Corsica in the last decades, this was the first time that one of the individuals released within the LIFE "Under Griffon Wings" project was recorded there. This observation provides evidence that expanding Griffon Vultures in Sardinia could also include Corsica in their movements and calls for the transboundary management of vulture populations between the two islands, including both monitoring and conservation actions minimizing anthropogenic mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal species living in highly seasonal environments developed different strategies to cope with the periodical drastic change of environmental conditions. Hibernating mammals survive the winter season by reducing their activity and metabolism, and by centring their activities during the favourable season. Thus, the demography of these species depends upon both hibernating and active periods. In this study, we explored the apparent survival of Alpine marmots monitored between 2007 and 2018 in the North-Western Italian Alps. We fit Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) models to quantify changes in the apparent survival and capture probability of marmots, after the hibernation phase and at the end of the summer. Apparent survival after winter almost reached 100% and it was higher than post-summer survival. Moreover, while post-summer apparent survival remained almost stable over lifetime, with a slight increase with age, characterised however by wide confidence intervals, overwinter survival decreased with age, especially after 6 years of age. No temporal trends, nor changes between areas at different elevations, were found. We suggest that these results arise from a combination of climatic conditions, predation pressure and social dynamics, which is a pivotal feature of this species and cannot be ignored when considering population dynamics of Alpine marmots. This study provides evidence of a higher survival in the hibernating mammals of the Alpine ecosystem, the Alpine marmot, compared to the survival of individuals during the summer season, providing the first evidence of different seasonal survival in this species. High overwinter survival in Alpine marmot [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) became extinct in Italy between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. A few animals were recorded at the border with Austria in 2018 and 2020. Between 2021 and 2023, beavers were reported in six Central and Southern Italy areas at more than 350-400 km from the nearest colonies. Following an official position by the Italian Mammal Society, this paper aims to explore the possible origin of these nuclei, suggests their removal and provide an analysis of the concerns and management recommendations. Given the distances between beaver locations in Central and Southern Italy and the rapid appearance of numerous small nuclei with few individuals in just a couple of years, the most plausible explanation is multiple unlawful releases. Unplanned and unauthorised reintroductions are unacceptable in terms of a sound wildlife management approach and represent a dangerous precedent stimulating further unlawful release of mammals. Therefore, we urge competent authorities to remove these animals from the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italian freshwater ecosystems were strongly affected by biological invasions during the last few decades. Recreational angling contributed to this, through the widespread use of invasive alien species for fish restocking. To date, no research is available about the psychological and structural determinants of deliberate fish restocking in Italy. This work aims to fill this research gap, through structured questionnaires administered to a sample of recreational anglers (n = 276) in the Arno river basin (Central Italy). A predictive model for fish restocking, based on a quasi-binomial logistic regression, was fit and multi-model inference was drawn, to highlight the most significant predictors. Respondents, who expected that most anglers practiced restocking and who believed restocking could create closer fishing spots, were more prone to illegally restock fish. Our findings indicate that expectations about illegal fish restocking might exist among specialized segments of anglers. Targeted communication campaigns must be enforced as soon as possible to change them. Furthermore, fish restocking is supposed to reduce the travel costs for angling: future research about this is needed to model invasion hotspots.