Miranda do Douro, Portugal, Spt. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The technical secretary of the Mirandese Sheep Breed said on Tuesday that the lack of food, coupled with the fires that have occurred in the border area, could be the explanation for wolf attacks in this north-eastern Transmontano territory.
In the border municipality of Miranda do Douro alone, in the district of Bragança, three wolf attacks have been recorded in the last three to four weeks in the towns of Malhadas, Fonte Ladrão and more recently in Genísio, which have resulted in the death of dozens of animals and serious injuries to many others.
Speaking to Lusa news agency, Andrea Cortinhas stated that wolves only attack when there is a food shortage and they are hungry.
"Wolves attack livestock farms when the animals are stabled, and only then does it return to feed. The wolf is more interested in cancelling out the movements of the animals [sheep] than actually eating them. If it doesn't feed calmly, it will always attack, because that's its instinct," the technician explained.
Andrea Cortinhas added that "when wounded animals are recorded, it may not be because the wolf wants to kill them, but because they're on the move".
"If it manages to kill them, it'll go and eat them later, but the shepherd will realise the wolf's attack and the damage will remain in the owners' pastures or stables," she stressed.
For Andrea Cortinhas, the fires on both sides of the border between the north-east of Trás-os-Montes and the Spanish province of Castilla y León have caused a shortage of food, and the wolves are attacking closer to places where there are sheep or other small animals.
"It's been many years since so many wolf attacks were reported, and the explanation may lie in the damage caused by the fires to the ecosystem. And when there were attacks, they were sporadic and with fewer animals killed. At the moment, there are many wolf attacks and, consequently, many animals are killed and injured, which is scaring the shepherds, she said.
The technical secretary of the National Association of Sheep Breeders of the Churras Mirandesa Breed also said that the shepherds are equipped with cattle dogs, and in some cases with fences a few metres high. Still, the wolf manages to overcome all these obstacles.
José Pereira, a biologist and president of the Palombar Nature Conservation Association, believes that wolves are very loyal to their pack territories.
"Even after a fire, wolves tend to return to their territory, even if it's far from the villages," he said.
However, José Pereira added that if there is a shortage of food, the wolves are forced to travel further and more widely to find food.
José Pereira is also of the opinion that in the last decade, there haven't been as many wolf attacks as we're seeing, because historic packs that once inhabited these territories have disappeared.
"Now there are new individuals occupying these territories to reproduce. This could be what's happening," he emphasised.
The biologist also added that some traditional ways of managing herds, such as with a shepherd, have been lost, which leads to attacks by wolves.
In the opinion of the president of Palombar, everything that has been pointed out is justified, but solutions need to be found for a peaceful coexistence between man and wolf.
Lusa has contacted the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and is awaiting a response.
FYP/ADB // ADB.
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