deer all came from the Bavarian For- 
est National Park, presented by the 
Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture as 
part of a joint operation between the 
Abruzzi and Bavaria. This certainly 
reflected credit on the minister of ag- 
riculture, who exposed himself to se- 
vere criticism from the political en- 
vironment from which he came. The 
press talked of “German deer for Ital- 
ian wolves,” and the sporting com- 
munity was not exactly friendly either. 
Critics frequently cited Italy’s an- 
nual “massacre of birds” as a reason 
to abandon the project, claiming that 
as long as such a disgraceful state 
of affairs prevailed in the country, 
“ecological development aid” should 
not be granted in other areas. But 
these arguments do not hold water. 
Certainly a stop should be put to the 
shooting of millions of birds, including 
migratory species, that takes place in 
Italy each year. Nobody is more aware 
of that than the Italian conservation- 
ists. The Italian shooting of birds has 
become ecologically intolerable. But 
even this massacre is not as bad as 
depriving species of their living space 
by draining the last marshes, straight- 
ening the course of rivers, turning nat- 
ural forests into pine plantations, and 
making wholesale use of poison in ag- 
riculture and forestry — all because of 
the compulsion to exploit every last 
square foot of land in Central Europe. 
Our object in introducing deer was 
not merely to supply wolves with living 
meat, but to reestablish ecological con- 
ditions destroyed by human beings, 
including hunters. Not only should 
wolves have their natural prey, but 
red deer and roe should get back their 
natural predator — an act of ecological 
“reparation” that we hoped would 
benefit the disrupted living commu- 
nity of the selected territories. 
The deer established themselves 
well. In the summer of 1976 there were 
already 130. At first they settled in 
the surrounding valleys, but soon some 
individual animals had advanced as 
far as the neighborhood of Sulmona. 
We know little about the effect they 
have had on the vegetation. In the 
national park area I saw large areas 
of willow herb that had been stripped 
bare. But in areas where there is no 
grazing of domestic animals, the vege- 
tation is so luxuriant that there would 
still be a place for a great many more 
deer, and even in grazing areas it 
should be possible to maintain a 
limited number. 
During the years of our work in 
Websters New Collegiate Dictionary. 
Its where the words live. 
For 150 years, G. & C. Merriam has been bringing the language 
to life and life to the language. Today, the best-selling Webster’s New 
Collegiate offers 150,000 words, including 22,000 new entries. Get a 
taste of Fast Food, feel an affinity for “Clone,” and share in the cele- 
bration of our “Sesquicentennial.” In 150 years, dictionary has never 
meant so much. Just $12.95, indexed. A gift of lasting value. 
FROM MERRIAM- WEBSTER 
©G&C MERRIAM 1980 
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