Luigi Boitani (born April 2, 1946, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

) is a professor of

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

, whose research interests include

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

, the protection of large

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s, and the management of protected areas. Boitani is president of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe.

Life and work

Boitani is a professor of

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an i ...

and animal ecology and was head of the Department of Zoology and Human Biology at the Sapienza University of Rome until it was merged with other departments in 2010 to form the Department of Biology and Biotechnology Charles Darwin. Since 1973, he has devoted himself to the ecology and protection of

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

. He has developed more than 30 management plans for various national parks. Boitani is active in the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union (

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

) since 1996;IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group. Members.
/ref> he has been a member of its presidium since 2002; and chairman of its group of specialists of the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. He has worked in numerous IUCN specialist groups. In the ''Canid Specialist Group'' he is the coordinator of the Wolf in Europe working group. Together with L. David Mech, who was chairman of the IUCN Wolf Specialist Group from 1978 to 2013, Boitani published IUCN contributions on the subject of wolves, including the entry in the

Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological sp ...

. Several documents relevant to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

on the management of large wild carnivores in Europe, in particular on wolf management, were produced under Boitani's leadership. In 2023, he was elected a member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

. In addition to his scientific activities, he is dedicated to the publication of popular scientific articles on nature and nature conservation in books, magazines, and television programs. In 2014, Boitani signed a cooperation agreement between the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe and

Rewilding Europe Rewilding Europe is a non-profit organization based in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, dedicated to creating rewilded landscapes throughout Europe. The group's efforts have contributed to increasing the stock of previously endangered species such as t ...

. In addition, Boitani is one of the six members of the Foundation Segré.Foundation Segré:
People and Structure
'

Books

* Luigi Boitani, Stefania Bartoli: ''The Macdonald Encyclopedia of Mammals''. Little Brown GBR, 1986, . * L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani: ''Wolves: Behavior, Ecology and Conservation''. University of Chicago Press, 2006, . * Luigi Boitani, Marco Musiani, Paul C. Paquet: ''World of Wolves – New Perspectives on Ecology, Behaviour, and Management – Energy, Ecology, and the Environment''. University of Calgary Press, 2010, .

Other publications

* J. Linnell, V. Salvatori, L. Boitani
''Guidelines for Population Level Management Plans for Large Carnivores.'' LCIE 2008
(Unautorisierte Übersetzung:
Leitlinien für Managementpläne auf Populationsniveau für Großraubtiere
.'') * Luigi Boitani
''Action Plan for the conservation of the wolves (Canis lupus) in Europe.''
Straßburg / Oslo 2000.
''Manifesto: Declaration of Principles for Wolf Conservation by the Wolf Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of The World Conservation Union (IUCN).''
* Luigi Boitani u. a.
''Key actions for Large Carnivore populations in Europe.''
Brussels 2015. * L. Boitani, P. Ciucci
''Wolf Management across Europe: Species Conservation without Boundaries.''
2009.

References

External links

* Luigi Boitani
Science and conservation of large carnivores in Europe
Talk on Video * Luigi Boitani
Unresolved challenges in wolf-human coexistence
Talk on Video {{DEFAULTSORT:Boitani, Luigi Living people Conservation biologists 20th-century Italian zoologists 21st-century Italian zoologists People associated with the International Union for Conservation of Nature Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome 1946 births Members of Academia Europaea