Ecologists are excited by the discovery of the young wolf's carcass along a roadside, seeing it as the fruit of a 30-year protection programme after Italy's lupine population flirted with extinction in the 1970s.

Up to now, Italy's few dozen packs have been largely confined to isolated areas of the Appenine mountains, and wolves haven't been spotted in the environs of Rome for 70 years.

However, farmers in the Castelli Romani national park, where the wolf was found, have been complaining for weeks of damage to their livestock attributed to a wild animal, local newspapers reported.

"It's wonderful for our protection campaign that such a specimen has been found in our region," Italian newspapers quoted biologist Daniele Badaloni as saying Monday.

"But it's essential that this presence not be seen as a threat by local farmers," he warned.

"I understand that farmers and people with livestock might be alarmed, but people have to bear in mind that wolves cause less damage than dogs," said Badaloni.

Aged around seven months and weighing 22 kilos (48 pounds), the wolf found in the national park January 12 had been hit by a car. A veterinary examination showed that it had not eaten for the previous three days.

Centuries of trapping wiped out the animal across much of western Europe, and by the mid-1970s only about 100 wolves survived in isolated areas of the Appenine mountains.

But the dog-like animal has made a comeback since it became a protected species in Italy in 1976, and numerous packs have since been documented.

Park biologists say they are trying to reassure farmers that the wolf poses no particular threat, even less so to humans.

"For a wolf to attack a human being is extremely rare," said Duccio Centili, of the Italian branch of the World Wildlife Fund.

Legend has it that twins Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome in 753, were discovered and raised by a she-wolf after being abandoned by their natural mother.

A statue of the wolf suckling the twins stands outside Rome's city hall and is the official symbol of the city.

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