Extracts from 'WOLVES', The Wolf Society of Great Britain's Newsletter will appear here, and be regularly updated. You can receive a copy of the full version by joining us and helping wolf conservation around the world.
Wolves In Portugal
The Iberian wolf, canis lupus signatus, a smaller, reddish coloured
subspecies of the European grey wolf endemic to Portugal and
Spain, was found all over the Iberian Peninsula less than one
hundred years ago. After a century of persecution, around three
hundred wolves persist in Portugal in the districts of Viana do
Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, Bragança, Viseu, Guarda, and possibly
Aveiro in the north of the country, and on the Spanish border in
Castelo Branco.
Within these areas are the Peneda-Gerês National Park and Alvão and Serra da Estrela Natural Parks, all important wolf strongholds. Although the north of the country contains some of the wildest regions of Portugal, parts of the north-west are among the most densely human inhabited areas. Even here a small but extremely vulnerable wolf population has managed to survive, between the Minho and Lima rivers, this is one of the last wolf packs left in Portugal’s coastal areas, where they were relatively common until the 1940’s.
Wolves have been protected by law in Portugal since 1988, however, the small wolf population remains threatened by a number of factors. Many wolves live in border areas, and animals migrating from Spain are an important factor in the continuing existence of isolated populations in Portugal, boosting numbers and preventing inbreeding. There are an estimated 1,500 Iberian wolves in Spain, concentrated in the north-west, where hunting is still permitted. Packs protected in Portugal who regularly cross the border face being wiped out by Spanish hunters. Illegal hunting is widespread within Portugal, particularly by livestock owners, using poison or shooting wolves from night-time hunting stations.
Conservation groups in Portugal have set up education programmes to try and reverse traditional intolerance to wolves among agricultural communities, and are working to increase the use of livestock guarding dogs - there are two traditional Portuguese breeds, the Castro Labroreiro and the Serra da Estrela - to protect flocks from wolves. Compensation is paid to farmers in cases of confirmed wolf predation on livestock.
Better livestock husbandry may itself reduce wolf populations, as wild prey is scarce, and many packs rely on free ranging goats, sheep and sometimes horses. Roe deer are fortunately becoming more common in some areas due to conservation efforts, and wolves in these areas are increasingly turning to deer as prey. There are also plans to reintroduce native wild goats to reduce reliance on livestock.
Highway development is a major cause of wolf mortality. Wolf pack territories in Portugal typically encompass 100 square kilometres, and extensive road developments comprising Portugal’s Highway Plans for the Year 2000 are already impacting populations, with dead wolves turning up on roads. Research is being carried out to confirm the extent to which the new roads present a significant physical barrier to dispersing wolves, mainly juveniles, and to look at provision of alternative corridors for wolves and other wildlife, such as viaducts and bridging small valleys. It seems likely that the IP3 highway, north of the river Douro, and the IP5, south of the Douro in the district of Guarda, will split wolf populations, placing further pressure on their viability. Human activity is one of the major causes of wolf decline in Portugal, and better road connections will almost certainly lead to other detrimental human development in areas where wolves persist.
Competition with stray dogs is another significant threat to wolves in Portugal, and many livestock losses blamed on wolves are in fact the work of feral dogs, abandoned by hunters after the hunting season, or local dogs neglected by their owners and forced to seek alternative food sources. As yet there is no indication that wolf/dog hybridisation is occurring to any great extent.
Habitat conservation appears to be the last chance for the wolf in Portugal, and conservationists and biologists are studying habitat needs and trying to define accurately the distribution of wolves in Portugal. Recognition of a species’ needs is a decisive factor in its management and conservation, and further research is needed in order to evaluate the level of protection needed to maintain stable populations.
Sources: Grupo Lobo, International Wolf magazine .