On 9 January 2012, a starving wolf was found trapped in the icy Limentra river in the Apennines south of Bologna, too weak to climb out. Rescuers from the Monte Adone wildlife centre pulled him from the water, restarted his heart with chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing, and named him Navarre.
The rescue in the Limentra river
The call came in at 13:30 that Monday. A local resident had spotted the wolf near the bank in the Camugnano area of the province of Bologna and alerted the provincial police, who asked the Centro Tutela e Ricerca Fauna Esotica e Selvatica at Monte Adone for help. Four of the centre’s staff, including its health officer, went out with the police.
Navarre was an adult male in shock, severely malnourished, apparently hypothermic and unable to use his hind legs. After he was sedated and lifted from the water, his heart and breathing stopped. The team gave him chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing, and after several minutes he came back. The resident who had raised the alarm then took him in for first aid.
Treatment: 35 pellets and paralysed hind legs
At the centre, examinations showed how much Navarre had been through. He was extremely thin and dehydrated, his hind limbs were paralysed and his skin was widely inflamed, probably from mange. Blood tests revealed an infection and liver strain, and X-rays found about 35 four-millimetre lead pellets in his body – evidence that he had been shot – though no vital organs or bones were damaged.
After several days in intensive care he began a structured rehabilitation programme. By March 2012 he was gaining weight, his wounds had nearly healed and he was getting back on his feet. The centre’s stated aim was to return him to the wild.
The Monte Adone wildlife centre
The centre, at Sasso Marconi near Bologna, began as a wildlife rescue centre in 1989 and became a formal association in 1993. It runs a 24-hour emergency rescue service for wild animals across Emilia-Romagna, rehabilitating deer, raptors, hedgehogs, foxes and dormice for release, and gives sanctuary to exotic animals rescued from mistreatment or illegal trade, including chimpanzees, tigers and lions. Its wolf project began in 2012, the year of Navarre’s rescue. More information is on the Monte Adone Centre website and the CentroTutelaFauna YouTube channel, where the video published by Centro Tutela Fauna is hosted.
The Italian wolf: a comeback with threats
Navarre belongs to the Italian wolf, Canis lupus italicus, a subspecies of the Apennines and Western Alps. Adults typically weigh 25 to 35 kilograms and stand 50 to 70 centimetres at the shoulder. Persecution and post-war poisoning campaigns pushed it to the edge: by the 1970s only about 70 to 100 remained. Legal protection from 1971 allowed a recovery, and by 2022 Italy had an estimated 3,307 wolves, with populations spreading north into France and Switzerland. Illegal shooting, like the shot that left pellets in Navarre, is still the main threat, along with poisoning and traffic.
If you find an injured wild animal, keep your distance and call the local wildlife rescue or police, as Navarre’s finder did. For more stories of help arriving in time, read the roadside fox story and Buddy the German shepherd’s Alaska story.
Related reading
- An Icy-Water Dog Rescue: The Moment Help Arrives
- A Deer Rescued from Lake Ice near Kenora, Ontario
- A Helicopter Helps a Deer Stranded on Ice
Sources
- Montagna.tv (March 2012): Lupo salvato con respirazione bocca a bocca, la tenera storia di Navarre
- European Youth Portal: Centro Tutela e Ricerca Fauna Esotica e Selvatica Monte Adone
- Wikipedia: Italian wolf
- Video and still: Centro Tutela Fauna / Monte Adone.
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