Three Tourists Hospitalized After Alleged Wolf Attack in Italian Resort

Three tourists suffered injuries during what appears to be a wolf attack captured on video inside an Italian holiday resort. The incident unfolded in Gallipoli late Thursday evening when a large beast targeted a 52-year-old woman, her 12-year-old daughter, and a 47-year-old man staying at the same spot. Footage shows the pair handing their pet dog to another woman before fleeing as the animal turned on them. The man in the video can be seen kicking and punching the creature while it assaulted the mother and child inside the Punta Pizzo tourist facility. All three victims were treated at a hospital but have since been released.

News agencies like Ansa state that authorities are still investigating exactly which species caused the harm, even as several outlets label the attacker a wolf. The Forestry Carabinieri now monitor this southern area for the animal. Italy hosts roughly 3,300 wolves according to 2022 data, and strict conservation laws helped pull the population from near extinction in the 1970s.

Reports of similar wild animal attacks have flooded recent headlines across the nation. Nearly 200 kilometers away in Bari, Puglia, a separate search continues for an animal that hit three children on August 4 and badly injured two others in Noicattaro on August 15. Local parks and green spaces remain closed every night under orders from the mayor until tonight's reopening. A task force has deployed thermal cameras, drones, and snares to try and catch the rogue beast.

Antonio Camarda, a veterinary medicine professor at the University of Bari, notes that while official information points to wolf-like features, the animal shows behavior that does not match typical species norms. He explains that wolves generally avoid humans because people are not prey. Yet, if an individual gets used to finding food among strays in human settlements, it may venture deeper into civilization. Recent incidents add weight to these concerns: a French bulldog was mauled Thursday in Oria and San Pietro Vernotico despite owners trying to rescue it, and Valnerina Umbria authorities still hunt for an animal that struck a four-year-old girl on July 9. Riccione further north has also barred its green spaces at night until September 3 after similar scares.