News from the Italian Parks
Dissemination of good practices for breeding: the action in figures
"Praterie" veterinarians work in the field, with 660 visits to livestock farms.
Adopting good practices in breeding management and grazing organisation increases farm productivity and improves grassland conservation. With this purpose, the vets of "Praterie" have so far conducted 660 visits in the project area's farms.
Thanks to their extensive presence, which supports the most important section of mountain economy, they gather information on operators' needs, ensure health assistance, suggest ways to improve the management, assess causes of mortality among the livestock, and build a positive relationship with the operators: they thus significantly influence how the Park is perceived, and mitigate conflict.
Maremma sheepdogs, amazing guardians for sheep and cows
Among the good practices that the project introduced to mitigate predation and the consequent conflict with the presence of protected wolves, puppies of Maremma sheepdog have been delivered to livestock farms. Maremma sheepdog are traditionally used to guard sheep and, for the first time here as an experiment, to protect free-range cows and calves.
