The return of the leopard

This month we would like to recommend Franco Tassi’s book, not only because we love the idea that the Lynx still lives in our country and we like to ensure that it is known, but above all, because we believe it is particularly important to underline how the verification of the presence of a species may also depend on the attention that ordinary citizens pay in observing the nature of their territory.

When Franco Tassi, known for being the first Director Superintendent of the Abruzzo National Park, published this small volume a few years ago, many thought he was a visionary. But it was starting from this text, appreciated by enthusiasts and scholars, that reports of sightings of one of the most elusive mammals of Italian fauna: the Lynx (Lynx lynx) started.

Misteriosa Lince. Bentornato Gattopardo (Mysterious Lynx. Welcome back Gattopardo) published by Stella Mattutina Edizioni, contains a large number of documents and references, tells the stages of research that stopped at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when official science decreed the extinction of this feline. The subject was abandoned and never taken up again even in the presence of reports, traces, stories, and evidence, despite the weight specialists of Baccio Baccetti, Danilo Mainardi, and Giuseppe Montalenti encouraged the work of Tassi. But the reliable reports that the “mysterious” feline was seen in many places in Italy, following the publication of the book, have now ensured that it is no longer considered extinct.

Credits

Author: Anna Lacci is a scientific popularizer and expert in environmental education and sustainability and in territory teaching. She is the author of documentaries and naturalistic books, notebooks and interdisciplinary teaching aids, and multimedia information materials.

Translation by Maria Antonietta Sessa