Eighteen wolves found dead in Italian national park in suspected poisoning

The carcasses of 18 wolves have been found in an Italian national park within the space of a week in an apparent series of poisonings described by conservationists as the most serious crimes against wildlife in Italy in a decade.

Authorities of the national park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise said eight wolves were found dead in recent days in three different areas of the vast park, adding to the 10 carcasses discovered last week. Three dead foxes and a buzzard were also found.

“The disappointment blends with despair … It’s a pain that ranges from profound suffering to disbelief,” the national park’s authorities said in a statement. “We hope that we don’t have to deal with further bad news. We repeat once again that whatever the motivation, illegality and crime cannot be justified in any way.”

A criminal investigation began last week after suspected poisoned bait was found by park rangers in the vicinity of five dead wolves in the Alfedena area, leading to suspicions that five other wolves found in Pescasseroli died in the same way.

Tests are being done to determine how the animals died although park authorities said the simultaneous deaths of other animal species pointed strongly to deliberate poisoning.

The situation is especially worrying given the presence of the marsican bear, a critically endangered subspecies of the brown bear, across the Apennine mountains of the national park.

Luciano D’Angelo, the prosecutor leading the investigation, told Corriere della Sera last week: “Bears and wolves are symbols of this area and we do not take their killings lightly. Initial investigations tell us it was poison, but we’ll know later exactly what it was.”

The Italian unit of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said the suspected wolf killings were the “most serious crimes against wildlife of the last 10 years” and marked “an unacceptable criminal trend in a civilised country”.

“We’ve reached 18 [wolves] illegally killed within just a few days,” the organisation said. “This continued massacre strikes at the heart of our natural heritage. Spreading poison to target an iconic species like the wolf is a cowardly and criminal act against biodiversity and an attack on public safety – it’s 2026 and these acts cannot go unpunished.”