Historical research of wolf population in Pisan hills between XVII and XXI centuries: evolution of tolerance in hunters, citizens, and naturalists in a conservation perspective

Worldwide, wolf conservation has been driven by several rapid environmental changes and intense anthropogenic pressures. At the beginning of the 17^th century wolves were commonly present in the Pisan hills especially in the upper hills, where killing regularly occurred. Severe reclamation, deforestation actions, human persecution, deep socio-economic and environmental changes occurred between the 17^th and 20^th century causing the local extinction of wolf in the Pisan hills by the Second World War. A process of wolf recolonization of the Pisan hills started from the second half of the 20^th century due to a gradual restoration of the natural environment. In this context, changes of socio-economic and cultural conditions, the technological development, and the mitigation of human’s attitudes toward wolf may be a base for the development of new approaches able to promote humans-wolf coexistence and balance.