CONSERVATION AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL: SUCCESSFUL REHABILITATION AND POST-RELEASE MONITORING OF AN ITALIAN WOLF (Canis lupus italicus) INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDENT.

This case report describes the rescue of an eight-month-old male Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus), the victim of a car accident that caused it a pulmonary contusion, a fracture of the shaft of right femur, and a metaphyseal fracture of the left stifle. A lateral surgical approach was performed to treat the animal’s multiple contusions and fractures. Afterwards the wolf was transferred to a wild animal recovery center for its rehabilitation, where it fully recovered. After 35 days in captivity the wolf was thus released into the supposed home-range of its original pack, and its movements were monitored by a GPS satellite collar. The collar worked correctly for 479 days. During that period the collar acquired a total of 1202 locations, indicating that the wolf had traveled at least 1590 km, with an average monthly distance (± SD) of 102 ± 40 km, exploring an overall area of about 270 km2. During the first 10 days after its release, the wolf remained in the area of its supposed native pack, whereas at about the age of 10 months the wolf began to make wide extraterritorial movements. The wolf’s last localization was acquired on 13th May 2018, about 17 months after its release, at a linear distance of about 65 km from the release site. This preliminary data showed that the wolf was alive and travelled long distances after its release, and demonstrates how a multidisciplinary management approach can support the recovery and successful release into nature of a rescued wild animal belonging to a flagship species with a notable ecological role, such as the Italian wolf.