The crazy search for the perfect shot to share on social networks has exceeded all safety limits. In Villetta Barrea, a charming Abruzzo village nestled in the heart of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, the point of no return has been reached after 3 episodes of people being violently attacked by deer in the space of a few days. The most serious episode involved a 57-year-old tourist, who was urgently hospitalized with a reserved prognosis in the intensive care unit of the San Salvatore hospital in L’Aquila due to severe abdominal trauma. The man had gotten dangerously close to a specimen with the intention of taking a close-up selfie, triggering the animal’s defensive reaction. A reckless behavior that echoes the recent cases recorded in the nearby municipality of Scanno, where other holidaymakers had recklessly attempted to pet or forage the ungulates during the delicate mating season, a period in which adult males intensify their territoriality and display their antlers with very high levels of reactivity.
The urgent ordinance of the Municipality: severe bans and fines of up to 500 euros
Faced with this worrying drift of rudeness and ignorance regarding wildlife, the mayor of Villetta Barrea has issued the contingent and urgent ordinance number 27/2026 to protect public safety and animal welfare. The provision introduces strict bans for anyone who frequents urban areas, the pedestrian walk along the Sangro river and mountain paths.
It is absolutely mandatory to maintain a minimum distance of 25 meters from any specimen, a limit which rises to 50 meters in the presence of females with puppies. The ordinance categorically prohibits feeding wildlife with food or water, chasing animals, stopping to take photos or videos at close range and leading dogs without a leash with a maximum length of 1.5 metres. Administrative pecuniary sanctions are foreseen for violators starting from a minimum of 25 euros up to a maximum of 500 euros.
Respect for wild nature and the danger of anthropization
Accidents of this magnitude demonstrate how education regarding respect for wildlife still struggles to reach the awareness of the numerous visitors who choose Abruzzo as a tourist destination. Foraging animals or accustoming them to human presence through food and water creates dangerous dynamics of dependence on anthropogenic resources, altering the natural ethological balance. Furthermore, the local fauna is not a circus attraction nor a tame subject for social profiles, but a fundamental wild component to be strictly observed from afar. Strict rules and severe sanctions now unfortunately represent the only possible barrier against irresponsible tourism that forgets a fundamental rule: we are the guests in their home.
