In spring 2019 a young Marsican brown bear crosses an underpass. It is probably one of Peppina’s cubs soon after separation from his/her mother.
Cleaning underpasses from rubble and waste of all sorts is one of the actions provided by the “Bear Smart Community” initiative, which Salviamo l’Orso, the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Nature Reserve, Rewilding Apennines and Dalla parte dell’Orso, also thanks to various international sponsors, have been implementing since 2015 to facilitate the biological permeability of the SS 17 in the territory of Pettorano sul Gizio and Rocca Pia, a fundamental area of presence, expansion and connection for the Marsican bear brown between the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park and the Majella National Park.
This road ecology measure is also included among the interventions that the Life “Safe crossing” project will carry out on the roads most at risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions in the territory of the two national parks with the highest presence of the Marsican bear in the Central Apennines.
The traffic reduction, as a consequence of the measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, could have made wildlife less alert when crossing the road and therefore we recommend maximum caution to motorists who travel in natural areas in which we humans are not the only inhabitants.
We thank Constantinos Christou for editing.