From 15 August 2026, the Tuscany Region has reopened the selection hunt for roe deer, allowing the direct killing of females and cubs of a few months old. The measure, contained in Regional Council Resolution no. 630 of 25 May 2026, authorizes hunting samples in the time window between 15 August and 30 September.
This choice triggered an immediate mobilization by the local LAV offices, led by the sections of Lucca, Pontedera, Florence, Livorno and Prato. The animal rights association has launched a popular petition and sent a formal warning addressed to the President of the Region Eugenio Giani and to the manager of the Wildlife-Hunting Activities Sector Marco Ferretti, asking for the immediate suspension of summer withdrawals to protect the young born still dependent on their mothers.
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ISPRA’s no and the environmental critical issues of summer 2026
The central point of the controversy lies in the clear conflict with national scientific indications. In the opinion released on 11 May 2026, ISPRA had expressly requested to exclude mothers and children from the withdrawal plans in the summer period. However, the Tuscany Region has chosen to deviate from these recommendations, justifying the choice in the name of management continuity compared to previous seasons. This decision is part of an already compromised ecological context: data from the LaMMA Consortium indicate anomalous heat and severe drought for the summer months of 2026, factors that subject wildlife to severe water and nutritional stress precisely in the delicate phase of breastfeeding and weaning.
Demographic collapse of the species and risks to the balance with the wolf
The technical documents of the Tuscany Region itself confirm a worrying structural decline of ungulates: between 2017 and 2024 the roe deer population fell from 192,000 to 145,000 specimens, recording a decline of 25% and a collapse in the average density from 14.7 to 8.7 heads per hundred hectares. In addition to direct damage to the species, the reduction of wildlife alters the balance of the food chain. As highlighted by studies in the sector, the roe deer represents the main prey of the wolf; impoverishing the availability of natural prey in wooded areas risks pushing predators to approach farms and population centers, increasing conflicts with livestock activities in the region.
An unacceptable barbarity that must be stopped immediately
Allowing defenseless puppies and nursing mothers to be killed, especially during a climate and drought emergency that is already decimating their presence, is a cruel, anachronistic decision devoid of any ethical sensitivity. Treating fauna as a simple target to be managed or sacrificed on the altar of hunting interests responds to unacceptable logic. We therefore hope for the immediate withdrawal of this measure to put an end to a massacre that wounds nature and our conscience.
