Portugal’s wolf population is on the increase, especially in the zone south of the Douro and north of the Tagus.
The chairman of Portugal’s Grupo Lobo, or Wolf Group, Francisco Fonseca said that the wolf population is increasing in Portugal in parallel to rises elsewhere in Europe.
Fonseca also is the national coordinator of the project ‘LIFE MedWolf – Good Practice for the Conservation of Wolves in Mediterranean Regions,’ and was in Castelo Branco this weekend at the first meeting of the working group for the Iberian Wolf.
Speaking to Lusa, Fonseca said that "this is a first meeting of many we will hold up until 2017 under the ‘LIFE MedWolf’ project.
Portuguese and Spanish wolf experts and researchers have been discussing the status of the wolf in the Iberian Peninsula, its numbers and the success of protection measure designed to ensure the survivial and increase in numbers for the species.
"We have many years of experience and the problem is the coexistence between man and wolf. This generates many conflicts, not only with livestock farmers, but also because of some radical associations," said Fonseca .
Part of the ‘LIFE MedWolf’ project is education to show people that it is possible to take actions that will reduce the damage caused by wolves. These actions are often the simplest things such as adequate fencing for the protection of cattle and the use of dogs to protect cattle and to alert farmers.
" Nobody expects to eliminate all losses that the wolf may cause, but we want these losses reduced and then the conflict with the wolf will decrease," said Fonseca.
There are several pilot projects between the Douro and Tagus that the Agrarian School of Castelo Branco (ESA) has selected based on certain criteria and eight cattle farmers have been selected to receive training and assistance in the field.
The chairman of the Wolf Group also said the state has improved laws to protect the Iberian wolf including compensation for losses to livestock producers, adding that despite current legislation, there are still cases of wolves being killed illegally. There are laws in place to punish those that kill these animals but a shortage of manpower means the law is not being applied.
The chairman of the Wolf Group also wants to hold a count to see how many wolves are in Portugal. He knows the population is increasing but not by how many with the current best guess being 300.
