A lepidopteran creates fear in the municipal park of San Giovanni La Punta, in the province of Catania. “There is a processionary emergency, a serious problem that represents a danger for the children who frequent the municipal park and especially for the animals that are particularly exposed to the lepidopteran,” says the Italian Animalist Party in a note, adding that the processionary, among other things, is also present outside the municipal park, in the pine trees of the municipal parking lot, where the weekly market is held on Saturday mornings.
The presence of the processionary is defined as “a serious problem also for the park’s trees, which can suffer irreversible damage.” The pine trees in the park, under which children play, observe the animal activists, “are practically infested with inevitable danger for the little ones. In some areas of the park, the processionary has even reached the ground becoming extremely dangerous.”
The party’s note explains that the problem had already been reported in the past. “Despite our repeated reports,” says Ilaria Paolillo, coordinator of the Animalist Party in San Giovanni La Punta, “a few months later we find ourselves dealing with the same problem. There was plenty of time to intervene and prevent infestation.”