Primi dati sulla presenza di Hystrix cristata Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia, Rodentia, Hystricidae) nel Piemonte sud occidentale (nord-ovest Italia)

In this work, authors report the first occurrency data of Hystrix cristata L. in two sites in western Piedmont (Cuneo province, Northern Italy). The presence has been confirmed by the findings of a road-killed individual subsequently subjected to necrophagy by wild boars and by an observation by a local hunter. These reports expands the extent of occurrence of this species by over 78 km (linear distance) to the north-weast. The data available up to now lead authors to suggest an antropochorous origin of this population. However, a natural range expansion from the provinces of Asti and Alessandria (eastern piedmont), where the species is recorded since 2003, is not to be excluded.