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.

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