The national animal of Italy is the grey wolf. This is an unofficial symbol but nonetheless one that holds all the same importance to the Italian people as would any officially recognized national animal. Grey wolves still maintain a sizeable population in Italy and are sometimes called Italian wolves.
Wolves have been important to many European and worldwide cultures for many centuries.
Today they continue to hold enormous cultural importance to the Italian people and are a very important national symbol for a lot of different reasons.
The Italian wolf, though, is simply a subspecies of the gray wolf, so in that sense the national animal is certainly the gray wolf.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Italy?
The national animal of Italy, unofficially, is the gray wolf or the Italian wolf.
The Italian wolf is a distinct subspecies of gray wolf but again not a distinct species entirely in its own right.
Naturally, they are native to the Italian peninsula and inhabit the Apennine Mountains as well as parts of the western Alps.
Presently, though, there are efforts to extend the population into the north and east as well.
Italian wolves are not universally recognized as a distinct subspecies, though they do possess unique mtDNA haplotypes as well as morphologically distinct skulls.
The haplotype refers to a specific allele which Italian wolves inherit from their parents which other subspecies of gray wolf would not.
So, they plainly are quite different, though some would maintain not different enough to constitute their own subspecies.
They were first recognized as a distinct subspecies in 1921, when Italian zoologist Giuseppe Altobello noted the difference in skull as well as in the different colored fur that Italian wolves have.
Ever since it was first proposed this distinction has been a matter of strong debate, but in any case in common parlance the Italian wolf is generally thought of as being distinct from broader gray wolf populations.
This wolf has featured heavily in the culture of Rome and Italy, and of course is related to the myth of the founding of Rome which we will look at shortly.
But, again, it’s worth remembering that, for one thing, the Italian wolf is not officially the national animal; and for another thing, that not everyone even agrees that the Italian wolf is a distinct subspecies in its own right.
In any case, the animals remain a very important national symbol for Italy in a variety of different ways—so let’s look at some of them.
Why is the wolf the national animal of Italy?
The Italian wolf is important both to Italy in the modern day and in its very ancient past.
This perhaps all begins with the legend of how Rome was founded.
This story is recounted by many ancient Romans and relates to the twins Romulus and Remus who were suckled by a she-wolf as babies.
Thus, a wolf all but founded Rome by nursing the twins who would go on to establish the Roman nation.
Rome is obviously very important to the culture of the Italian people.
Rome played an incalculable role in the development of European and Mediterranean civilization, and so the Italians naturally feel a deep connection to the people that once inhabited the city that remains their capital today.
The wolf was an important symbol in Rome and so of course it continued to be in Italy.
Today, the wolf is a symbol of strength, power, boldness and courage, and yet at the same time subtlety, beauty and grace.
They are recognized for the powerful predators and hunters that they are, but at the same time they are quiet and peaceful forests spirits in terms of their interactions with humans.
Even beyond that is the question of their conservation status, which is often a reason for choosing an animal as the national animal.
Are Italian wolves endangered?
Italian wolves have been protected since the 1970s and hunting them is not permitted for any reason.
At that time, the population had fallen as low as only 70 individuals, and the population has considerably bounced back since then.
There are now estimated to be around 3,000 individuals in the wild.
However, they are still vulnerable. Illegal hunting still constitutes a big problem for the populations and as the regions they inhabit are quite remote it can be difficult to enforce these laws.
Are Italian wolves dangerous?
Wolves, in general, do not pose much immediate threat to humans.
They will always prefer to stay out of human sight rather than seek out conflict and they certainly do not hunt humans.
So, you aren’t in much danger just from being in the same general area as a wolf—though in rare cases they have attacked livestock.
That said, of course if you were to approach an Italian wolf and it felt cornered then it would attack you and could easily do so fatally.
They are not dangerous in their temperament, but they are very physically dangerous to humans.
So, again, it’s worth remembering that the Italian wolf is the unofficial national animal of Italy.
The country has no official national animal, but for the purposes of the symbolism and national identity, the wolf may as well be the official animal.
Most Italians recognize it as such and thus it holds the same symbolic importance as any official national animal.