The wolf’s return to the Orobie in the 2010s is the result of a process of natural recolonization—in other words, it was spontaneous. No authority released wolves into Bergamo’s mountains. Rather, wolves came of their own accord, repopulating what was once their “natural habitat.” But is this habitat still “natural” to the wolves today? What does it mean for a habitat to be “natural” in the first place, and according to what or whose standards?
