No danger!

Stelvio Pass: wolves on the ski slope

Wolves were spotted on a ski slope on the Stelvio Pass. (symbolic image)(Bild: stock.adobe.com/karlumbriaco)

Witnesses have seen several wolves on the Stelvio Pass on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The animals ran uphill between giant slalom poles on a freshly prepared ski slope before disappearing again.

The sighting took place early in the morning in Santa Catarina Valfurva in the Stelvio National Park in Italy. The eyewitnesses first spotted two animals, followed shortly afterwards by a third.

A video allegedly shows the wolves moving up the mountain on the slope between giant slalom gates, but soon after visual contact is lost.

While wolf opponents such as the "Ruralpini resistenza rurale" group are lashing out on Facebook, the Italian authorities are weighing in. They say it was a completely normal incident in this alpine environment. The wolves were probably hunting, but there was no danger to skiers, according to the National Park Directorate. 

In order to be able to assign the animals to a specific, already registered pack, attempts are now being made to secure DNA traces and analyze them.

Repeated incidents with wild animals in Italy
In Italy, incidents with bears and encounters with wolves occur time and again. It was only at the beginning of December that the EU downgraded the protection status of wolves from "strictly protected" to "protected". The downgrading was "great news and the result of a widely shared EU position, which Italy was one of the first nations to push for", said Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida at the time.

"This decision, based on scientific data, allows measures to be taken to protect agriculture and livestock farming, which are in difficulty in many areas of Italy because of wolves," he said. "We are finally overcoming far-fetched ideological positions that are detrimental to the environment and human activities."