The return of the Italian grey partridge

On 4 May in the Conference Room of the Museum of Zoology in Rome, ISPRA will present the first Workshop of the LIFE Perdix project. The project is co-financed by the European Union and has as its main objective the recovery and reintroduction into the wild of the Italian partridge (Perdix perdix italica Hilheimer, 1917), today considered formally extinct in the wild.

Geographically, the chosen reintroduction area is the SPA IT4060008 "Valle del Mezzano", in the province of Ferrara.

The project has a duration of 6 years and sees ISPRA as coordinator partner, and the collaboration of the Forestry, Environmental and Agri-Food Unit Command, the Italian Hunting Federation, the Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs, Legambiente and the Emilia-Romagna Po Delta Regional Park and the National body for Italian Cinofilia which supports the project as a co-financer.

The recovery of the Italian Partridge will take place thanks to the genetic selection activity carried out by ISPRA on a stock of Apennine origin, comparing it with historical museum samples, prior to the introduction of individuals from other countries for restocking purposes.

Program