Viana do Castelo, Portugal, June 5, 2026 (Lusa) - The spokesperson for the Union of Livestock Farmers Affected by Wolves (UPGALL) said on Friday that livestock farmers “are at the end of their tether” due to the lack of measures to strengthen wolf protection.
Contacted by the Lusa news agency, Orlando Gonçalves was referring to statements made earlier this month by the Environment Minister, who said that the government would soon present a new decree-law to further strengthen protection for the Iberian wolf.
The document was prepared in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture, said the minister, speaking at the presentation in Lisbon of the National Nature Restoration Plan (PNRN), which must be submitted to Brussels by September.
When questioned by journalists at the end of the presentation about environmentalists’ fears that protection for the Iberian wolf might be reduced, the minister denied this, saying, “You can rest assured.”
“The latest news on wolf protection is causing a stir among those living the constant nightmare of this malignant tumour of extensive livestock farming, fuelled and protected by wolf psychosis,” say the livestock farmers in a note sent to Lusa.
The farmers claim they went to parliament on 13 May to expose “the tragedy” afflicting them, even inviting members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and the Maritime Affairs to visit the site.
The invitation was extended for the 23rd, the annual date for the branding of Garrano horses in the Santa Luzia mountains, in Viana do Castelo.
Orlando Gonçalves said the minister of agriculture had been invited “so that he could see ‘in loco’ the benefits of the wolf for the preservation of the Garrano”.
“The herd used to number around a thousand, but the breeders say that this year they might not even find 300,” he said, adding that UPGALL “receives photos every week of animals killed and mauled by wolves”.
On the 23rd, the feral Garranos will be tagged, the foals counted, and other annual management operations carried out.
“In recent years, this has been a devastating reality, reflected in the sharp decline in numbers due to predation by wolves,” say the breeders.
Researchers have concluded that Garrano horses may account for up to 80% of the Iberian wolf’s diet in some areas of north-western Portugal and Spain, which puts pressure on this threatened native species.
The species acts as a ‘buffer prey, helping to reduce predation on economically valuable livestock species such as cows, goats and sheep’, note the study’s authors, according to a press release from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP).
However, the Garrano horses are under ‘increasing pressure’.
ABC/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
