The National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise said eight wolves were found dead in recent days, adding to 10 carcasses discovered last week, according to park authorities. A criminal investigation began last week after suspected poisoned bait was found by park rangers near five dead wolves in the Alfedena area, park authorities said. Three dead foxes and a buzzard were also found, park authorities reported. Tests are being done to determine how the animals died, but 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, according to park authorities. The World Wildlife Fund Italy partly blames the deaths on the EU last year downgrading a wolf's status from 'strictly protected' to 'protected', the organization said. There are an estimated 20,000 wild wolves across EU countries, with the majority in Italy, according to WWF Italy. WWF Italy said the suspected wolf killings were the most serious crimes against wildlife of the last 10 years.