📸 Moufflons of Giglio

To understand what the Park Authority is currently extinguishing on the Island of Giglio, we are attaching this short video excerpt from the LAV 2023 National Congress. Speaking is Dr. Paolo Mereu, professor of Evolutionary Genetics at the University of Sassari, co-author of the study published in the international journal Diversity titled: "Islands as Time Capsules for Genetic Conservation: The Case of the Giglio Island Mouflon."

Dr. Mereu explains with great clarity the uniqueness and incredible naturalistic importance of this population that was brought to Giglio in the distant year of 1955, by the will of three of the greatest naturalists of that time. It consists of pure wild mouflons, free from domestic contamination. These mouflons, unique among all, preserve an absolute genetic integrity that identifies them as the "missing link," the connection between the ancient Neolithic mouflon populations that arrived in the Mediterranean Basin and the oldest populations still present in Sardinia. In describing this unexpected scientific discovery, Dr. Mereu also recounts the joy and exultation of the research group that conducted the study when these first incredible, and in some ways unexpected and absolutely surprising results emerged. The data, among other things, confirm the Sardinian origin of the Giglio mouflons, which places them under the protection of the Law. However, the Park Authority did not flinch and, on the contrary, increased the captures and condemned this population to extinction, deliberately ignoring the aforementioned study that authoritatively confirmed what was anticipated by historical documents. After the culling, most of the captures were carried out using the snare method, causing the death of over 20% of the individuals. The surviving mouflons were surgically sterilized.

Despite the scientific and historical evidence, despite the mobilization of many local small-scale farmers, the public opinion, and the scientific community, the Park Authority, with the support of local administrators and ISPRA, continues to proceed with eradication efforts that will ensure the extinction of this extremely rare and important nucleus of mouflons, which were established for conservation purposes and are the last ones maintaining these ancestral genetic characteristics. The scientific study, peer-reviewed, was published in one of the most prestigious international journals, and its value is supported by the National Federation of the Order of Biologists and numerous other scientists and experts, including Professor Daria Sanna from the University of Sassari, and Professor Paolo Francalacci from the University of Cagliari, internationally renowned geneticists.

We invite the Park Authority to carefully listen to this presentation, reread the scientific study, and speak with the authors. Cesare Scarfo’ for SaveGiglio.org