As wolves in Europe are expanding in range, their impact on economic activities through predation on livestock is increasing. In this context, the effectiveness of damage compensation programs is being debated and requires adequate assessment. With this aim, we performed a survey of wolf depredation on livestock in Italy during the years 2010 − 2014, comparing regions of historical and more recent wolf occurrence. We collected data on livestock depredations, prevalent husbandry practices and the main features of compensation schemes. We investigated the effect of several ecological and management-related variables on the extent of wolf impact. On average, 3274 (± 195.2 SD) wolf depredation events were compensated across Italy each year, comprising 7809 (± 1278.9 SD) livestock heads, and corresponding to € 1,450,814 (± € 184,762 SD) annual compensation costs. Regions recently recolonized by wolves reported lower and decreasing levels of impact compared to those with historical wolf presence. Half of all depredations occurred in 121 municipalities (9.7% of the total), which emerged as hotspots of impact and economic cost for the system. The proportion of farms with chronically recurring damage increased by 80% in the southern Apennines, where wolves never disappeared, whereas it declined by 100% in the Alps, due to effective prevention measures implemented following wolf recolonization in the mid-1990s. Long-term human-wolf coexistence does not necessarily correspond to lower damage levels and effective conflict management, casting doubts on the effectiveness and sustainability of compensation programs, if applied without reference to a context of adaptive management.

随着欧洲狼的范围不断扩大，它们通过捕食牲畜对经济活动的影响正在增加。在这种情况下，损害赔偿计划的有效性正在辩论中，需要进行充分的评估。出于这个目的，我们对 2010 年至 2014 年期间意大利牲畜的狼掠食情况进行了调查，比较了历史上和最近出现狼的地区。我们收集了关于牲畜掠夺、普遍的畜牧业做法和补偿计划的主要特征的数据。我们调查了几个生态和管理相关变量对狼影响程度的影响。平均而言，意大利每年有 3274 (± 195.2 SD) 场狼掠夺事件得到补偿，包括 7809 (± 1278.9 SD) 牲畜头，相当于 1,450,814 (± 184, 762 SD) 年度补偿费用。与历史上有狼存在的地区相比，最近被狼重新殖民的地区报告的影响水平较低且正在下降。一半的掠夺发生在 121 个城市（占总数的 9.7%），这些城市成为系统的影响和经济成本的热点。由于 1990 年代中期狼重新定殖后实施了有效的预防措施，因此在亚平宁山脉南部，狼从未消失过，遭受长期反复破坏的农场比例增加了 80%，而在阿尔卑斯山则下降了 100%。长期的人狼共存并不一定对应于较低的损害水平和有效的冲突管理，如果在不参考适应性管理的情况下应用，就会对补偿计划的有效性和可持续性产生怀疑。