The Apennine Ululone
Among the park's most precious biological treasures
Small and discreet, the Apennine Ululone (Bombina pachypus) is one of the most precious – and most threatened – biological treasures of the Lucanian Apennines Val d'Agri Lagonegrese National Park. Endemic to peninsular Italy, linked to pools, springs, marshes and humid microenvironments, this amphibian tells a story that intertwines biodiversity, ecological fragility and collective responsibility. Today, it is one of the species symbolising the global amphibian crisis, one of the animal groups most at risk of extinction due to water pollution, habitat destruction, land fragmentation and anthropogenic pressure.
In the Lucanian Apennines Park, the Ululone is not just a biological presence: it is an ecological indicator, a silent sentinel that measures the health of mountain ecosystems. Here, among the beech forests, high-altitude wetlands and natural basins, one of the most important populations in southern Italy has been recorded, with locally frequent sites, such as the important Monte Raparo station. This data takes on extraordinary significance when compared with the dramatic national scenario: in many areas of the Apennines and southern Italy, the Ululone has now disappeared or been reduced to isolated and extremely fragile populations, with a demographic collapse documented by scientific studies and field monitoring.
The Apennine Ululone is a small amphibian measuring 3-5 centimetres, with a greyish-brown warty back and a spectacular belly decorated with yellow patches on a bluish-grey background: a true chromatic warning signal, a defensive strategy that communicates danger in nature. Its eyes, with their characteristic inverted heart-shaped pupils, make it immediately recognisable to experts. But behind this beauty lies great vulnerability: the species is now listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), which recognises its priority conservation value and requires the protection of its habitats through Special Areas of Conservation.
The Lucanian Apennines National Park has made the Ululone one of the pillars of its conservation policies: scientific monitoring, systematic censuses, wetland protection, control of anthropogenic pressures, environmental education and collaboration with universities and research centres are now concrete tools for defending this species. In an area where twelve species of amphibians and over 360 sites have been recorded, the Ululone represents an absolute priority from a conservation point of view, because it tells the story of the risk of losing a unique and irreplaceable natural heritage better than any other species.
Protecting the Ululone means protecting much more: it means defending the waters, forests, soils and invisible network of microhabitats that sustain life in the mountains. It means investing in a model of sustainable development that recognises biodiversity as a cultural, identity and ecological resource, not an obstacle.
In the Lucanian Apennines Park, the Ululone is not just an endangered amphibian: it is a symbol of resistance, a living heritage that tells of the profound value of nature and the duty to protect it in order to save the most fragile and authentic soul of the Apennines.