ROME, Sept 23 — An Italian man shot dead his father yesterday during a hunting expedition in southern Italy after mistaking him for a wild boar, according to media reports.

Martino Gaudioso, 55, was shot in the stomach by his 34-year-old son as they stalked their prey separately through thick foliage in Sicignano degli Alburni, near Salerno, in a national park area off limits to hunters, the reports said.

Italy’s environment minister called for a nationwide ban on hunting last October following the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old after he was mistaken for a boar.

Two months ago a hunter aged 67 was found dead in the woods after accidentally shooting himself in the head.

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Michela Vittoria Brambilla, leader of the national animal defence league, yesterday slammed the transformation of Italy’s woods and countryside into a “wild west”, and called for harsher punishment for manslaughter by hunters. — AFP