INTRODUCTION

Overabundant ungulates (such as the white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus) in the United States and the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) in Europe) occupy an awkward space halfway between fair game and pest, and pose a number of management challenges both for anthropic activities and for legislators. A series of judgmentsdelivered by the Italian Corte Costituzionale (Constitutional Court, the highest judicial body in Italy) in recent years provide a case in point. They may appear – at first glance – relatively simple decisions about the allocation of legislative power between the central State and the Regions on an environmental subject, specifically on wildlife management. However the analysis in this contribution suggests that they actually represent a symptom of rising social pressures (in Italy and elsewhere). In particular, these pressures arise from a situation where: (a) a national wildlife governance system dates from a period where the ungulates were scarce (rather than abundant as they are now) and where the management credo was ‘conservation’ , and as such is ill-suited to respond to new local necessities in a timely fashion; (b) biological evidence internationally is highly ambiguous when it comes to the most effective measures to take in the first place. Last-but-not-least, the analysis here provides insights into the peculiar law on property of wildlife in Italy compared to other European countries, and into reimbursement procedures for wildlife-related damage Directives, while at the same time offering lessons learnt for other countries which treat game as public property ( res publica or res communis, e.g. in the United States). All these points give ground to the idea that law when not updated and when it makes use of atypical constructs, gives birth to social tensions and hampers innovative solutions for the management and conservation of the environment.

Environmental literature emphasises the importance of a healthy environment, with an obligation to preserve the environment's integrity for future generations. Many pieces of legislation around the world embrace this view, to the extent of constitutionalising it.