According to the group, the biggest single menace to the Italian wolf is competition from wild dogs.

Indeed, dog still makes up about 3 per cent of the diet of Italian wolves.

Recently, the Italian wolf has returned, probably from Sila.

Italian wolf hunters lacked the organisation or determination of their French counterparts, having not formed any special hunting teams.

Also, it is simply incorrect to state that 'the Italian wolf, which is perilously close to extinction.

All this means that the Italian wolf, which is perilously close to extinction, may survive after all - but as a dog.

Fauna includes Italian wolf and wild boar.

The fauna consists of woodland species such as the Italian wolf, bears, wild boar, deer, and mouflon.

As a consequence, the Italian Wolf is the national animal of the modern Italian Republic.

In wildlife terms, the main attractions of the park are the Marsican Brown Bear and the Italian Wolf.

The Apennine Mountains provide habitat to Marsican Brown Bear and the Italian Wolf.

The Italian wolf is a distinct sub-species of wolf found in the Italian Peninsula, especially amongst the Apennines.

However, this animal was not a member of the Iberian subspecies, but an Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) migrating from France.

Italian wolves entered France's Mercantour National Park in 1993, and at least fifty wolves were discovered in the western alps in 2000.

Wildlife include Marsican brown bear, italian wolf, mouflon, red deer, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, Eurasian eagle-owl and Ursini's viper.

The genetic distinction of the Italian wolf subspecies was recently supported by analysis which consistently assigned all the wolf genotypes of a sample in Italy to a single group.

Two subspecies not mentioned in the list above are the Italian Wolf (Canis lupus italicus) and the Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus).

In one theory, divergence of the Italian wolf began when the Apennines became a southern refugium for species displaced from Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum at about 18000 years BP.

Azawakh have a rare glucose isomerase allele (GPI) that occurs only in foxes, jackals, Italian wolves, Sloughi dogs and a handful of other quite unrelated rare dogs found mostly in Japan.

Woods dominated by chestnut, beech and the rare Bosnian Pine, which is the park's symbol, cover especially the highest peaks; animal species include the Italian Wolf, Eagle Owl, Roe Deer and the rare Golden Eagle.

Notable large mammals are the Eurasian Lynx, Italian Wolf, Marsican Brown Bear, Pyrenean Chamois, Alpine Ibex, Common Genet, Axis Deer, Mouflon, Rough-toothed Dolphin and Mediterranean Monk Seal.

The oldest in the Apennines, with an important role in the preservation of species such as the Italian Wolf, chamois and Marsican Brown Bear, the park is around two thirds beech forest though many other trees grow in the area including the Silver Birch and Black and Mountain pines.

However, this animal was not a member of the Iberian subspecies, but an Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) migrating from France.

Two subspecies not mentioned in the list above are the Italian Wolf (Canis lupus italicus) and the Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus).