Photographer Makes Stunning Prehistoric Discovery Near Italian Winter Olympic Venue

MILAN (AP) — A wildlife photographer has stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back to the Triassic Period, about 210 million years ago, in an Italian national park near Milan. 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Officials announced that the location of Bormio will be determined on Tuesday.

Experts said the discovery in Stelvio National Park was remarkable because of the large number of footprints, estimated at as many as 20,000 across nearly five kilometers (three miles), and its location near the Swiss border, which was once a prehistoric coastal area and where no dinosaur tracks have ever been found before.

“This time reality really surpasses fantasy,” said paleontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso of the Milan Natural History Museum, who received the first call from wildlife photographer Elio Della Ferrera after making the discovery.

Dinosaur prints are believed to have been made by long-necked, bipedal herbivores, similar to Plateosaurus, that were 10 meters (33 feet) long and weighed up to four tonnes, Dal Sasso said. Some of the tracks were 40 centimeters wide and their claws were visible.

The footprints showed that the dinosaurs traveled in groups and sometimes stood in circular formations, possibly as a protective measure.

“There are very distinct traces of individuals walking in a slow, calm, quiet, rhythmic tempo, without running,” Dal Sasso said at a press conference.

The tracks were discovered in September by Della Ferrera, who set out to photograph deer and vultures, when he pointed his camera at a vertical wall about 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) above the nearest road.

The location, on a wall about 2,400 to 2,800 meters (7,900-9,200 feet) above sea level, facing north and mostly in shadow, was particularly difficult to detect without a very strong lens, although the footprints were clearly visible, Dal Sasso said.

Della Ferra said something strange caught his eye, and he climbed up a vertical rock wall with some difficulty to take a closer look.

“The biggest surprise was not discovering the footprints, but discovering such a large amount,” Della Ferrara said. “There are literally tens of thousands of prints out there that are more or less well preserved.”

The entrance to the park where the prints were discovered is located just two kilometers (one mile) from the mountain town of Bormio, where the men’s alpine ski races will be held during the February 6-22 Games.

Lombardy regional governor Attilio Fontana hailed the discovery as “a gift for the Olympics”, even though the region is too remote to be accessible during winter months and plans for eventual public access have not been made.