The rare Italic hare back on Elba Island
Thanks to a project funded by the Ministry of the Environment in the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, the Italic hare (Lepus corsicanus), one of the most valuable species of Italian fauna, will be shortly reintroduced on Elba Island since it was extinct in the Archipelago.
The operations are carried out thanks to a collaboration between the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) and the State Forestry, within a wider program of conservation of this species started in other Italian protected areas.
The Italic hare and the Hare belong to different lineages. The Italic hare is an endemic species and therefore exclusive of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, where it has evolved during the ice ages. Although protected, today it's threatened by the isolation of the survivor groups, by low density and by the introduction of the European hare, which is huntable and likely to be confused with it, so that hunters can easly catch the Italic hare instead of the european one.
The State Forestry participates in the reintroduction project offering 15 adults of Italic hare raised at the Wildlife Center of Bieri (Territorial Office for Biodiversity of Lucca), which is the main structure for the reproduction of the Italic hare in the peninsula, having produced in two years 40 individuals from four couples coming from protected areas of Lazio (Regional Park and Nature Reserve of Marturanum Castelporziano).
The Tuscan Archipelago National Park, with the scientific and technical supervision of ISPRA, will carry out the monitoring activity of the individuals. Hares reintroduced will be followed with radio devices to monitor their movements and study their behavior, with the ultimate goal of a positive recovery of an important and peculiar fauna of our country.