Spanish Wolf

I wanted to talk to you about the situation of the wolf in Spain.

Until about 3 years ago they could be hunted from the Duero River upwards, which kept populations under control. It must be taken into account that the wolf is an animal that causes a lot of damage to livestock and, although not harmful to the ecosystem, like everything taken to the extreme, it is bad. Above all, it causes great damage when it reaches a new area where there was no wolf before, as the animals are not used to it, there is plenty of food and until that natural balance occurs (can lasts for decades), there are areas where their favorite prey are completely extinct.

It is becoming more and more common to see them, in certain areas where we hunt it is rare not to see them on a hunting weekend. Here I leave you some images of a wolf we pictured last week that measured its strength with a wild boar, facing it and the wolf having to retreat. The large male wild boars are the only animals that the wolf fears in the Iberian fauna, along with the brown bear. This species is also experiencing a situation similar to that of the wolf and the populations are only growing in Spain.

I also leave you a photo of a Spanish Mastin breed dog with the typical collar to protect itself from wolves. They are called "carlancas" and these dogs are used to dealing with and confronting the wolf almost daily and are the rancher's only defense against attacks to livestock.

 

[WalkedUp]

Great to see, your written English is very easy to understand as well. Unlike most British people’s written english … that is the shibboleth

 

[Smellydog]

Do these wolves eat ramblers?
If so I'll take ten

 

[th32]

A lot to talk about the situation of the wolf in Spain but I´m just sick tired of the political focus of the wolf management here in Spain.

What a magnificent dog the Spanish Mastiff is, just amazing how they deal with wolves alone in the night defending the cattle, with the only help of the collar of thorns (carlanca). Heard and read some incredible stories of wolves/mastffis encounters. Great for a night fire...

BTW, it's incredible the fixation that the wolf has against dogs when they find them in the wild, especially hunting dogs! They will kill anyone they can.

 

[Sionyn81]

I wanted to talk to you about the situation of the wolf in Spain.

Until about 3 years ago they could be hunted from the Duero River upwards, which kept populations under control. It must be taken into account that the wolf is an animal that causes a lot of damage to livestock and, although not harmful to the ecosystem, like everything taken to the extreme, it is bad. Above all, it causes great damage when it reaches a new area where there was no wolf before, as the animals are not used to it, there is plenty of food and until that natural balance occurs (can lasts for decades), there are areas where their favorite prey are completely extinct.

It is becoming more and more common to see them, in certain areas where we hunt it is rare not to see them on a hunting weekend. Here I leave you some images of a wolf we pictured last week that measured its strength with a wild boar, facing it and the wolf having to retreat. The large male wild boars are the only animals that the wolf fears in the Iberian fauna, along with the brown bear. This species is also experiencing a situation similar to that of the wolf and the populations are only growing in Spain.

I also leave you a photo of a Spanish Mastin breed dog with the typical collar to protect itself from wolves. They are called "carlancas" and these dogs are used to dealing with and confronting the wolf almost daily and are the rancher's only defense against attacks to livestock.

An interesting read, the wolf is very well camouflaged too.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Thank you sir for an absorbing read - so very different from our experiences in the UK.
From what I read the wolf, whether through natural expansion or ill-starred re-introduction is becoming a bit of a problem both in Europe and the USA - one can only imagine the impact that this apex predator could have on an ecosystem where they did not exist - never mind the local farmed stock….
It was not that long ago that a certain recently re-elected and very (like very) senior EU official lost a pony to an “introduced” wolf - how very apposite!

 

[Top Spanish Hunting]

Great to see, your written English is very easy to understand as well. Unlike most British people’s written english … that is the shibboleth

Thanks!!

 

[Top Spanish Hunting]

Thank you sir for an absorbing read - so very different from our experiences in the UK.
From what I read the wolf, whether through natural expansion or ill-starred re-introduction is becoming a bit of a problem both in Europe and the USA - one can only imagine the impact that this apex predator could have on an ecosystem where they did not exist - never mind the local farmed stock….
It was not that long ago that a certain recently re-elected and very (like very) senior EU official lost a pony to an “introduced” wolf - how very apposite!

The truth is that it is a difficult situation. 100 years ago in Spain the wolf was almost extinct from the mountains since people poisoned them. There were even groups of hunters called vermin men who were dedicated to hunting all kinds of predators but especially wolves, since when they caught one they could walk it around several villages and people would give them money.

The wolf is necessary in our mountains, it is part of the fauna and does a very good job of culling. It will always hunt the weakest or sickest specimens, and also reduces the female populations, something very necessary here in Spain. The problem comes, like everything else, when the greens want to protect him to the extreme, prohibit his hunting and leave him roaming freely in the mountains of Spain without any control.

 

[Foxyboy43]

The truth is that it is a difficult situation. 100 years ago in Spain the wolf was almost extinct from the mountains since people poisoned them. There were even groups of hunters called vermin men who were dedicated to hunting all kinds of predators but especially wolves, since when they caught one they could walk it around several villages and people would give them money.

The wolf is necessary in our mountains, it is part of the fauna and does a very good job of culling. It will always hunt the weakest or sickest specimens, and also reduces the female populations, something very necessary here in Spain. The problem comes, like everything else, when the greens want to protect him to the extreme, prohibit his hunting and leave him roaming freely in the mountains of Spain without any control.

Hmm.
Your last paragraph could so easily read across to Scotland - if some have their way especially the reference to “without any control”…

 

[Zio65]

The truth is that it is a difficult situation. 100 years ago in Spain the wolf was almost extinct from the mountains since people poisoned them. There were even groups of hunters called vermin men who were dedicated to hunting all kinds of predators but especially wolves, since when they caught one they could walk it around several villages and people would give them money.

The wolf is necessary in our mountains, it is part of the fauna and does a very good job of culling. It will always hunt the weakest or sickest specimens, and also reduces the female populations, something very necessary here in Spain. The problem comes, like everything else, when the greens want to protect him to the extreme, prohibit his hunting and leave him roaming freely in the mountains of Spain without any control.

same situation in Italy, it was reintroduced with millions of euros from the European community, the wolf project... the greatest ecological damage ever done by the hypocritical and incompetent green animal rights activists, unfortunately we have them up to the first urban circle of almost all the cities, they don't remain in agricultural areas because preying on urban dogs and cats is easier and less dangerous than large wild boars, roe deer now reduced to a minimum and farmers who are broke, this is the Italian situation HI

 

[Cootmeurer]

In the area of Colorado where my brother (@Mountain Bug) lives they have recently stocked wolves and that has not gone at all as the bunny huggers expected (although it has gone exactly as the ranchers expected).
The wolves have found domestic livestock easy to catch and eat than wildlife, and Livestock Guardian Dogs are of little use against the entire pack. Yes, they can fend of single wolves, but the domestic animal kill has included more than a few LGDs

In one area the problem reached such a problem they chose to recapture and relocate the pack before the ranchers took matters into their own hands. However, all they’ve done is taken a pack trained to kill livestock and moved them to a new region with less, not No, livestock.

Colorado’s first reintroduced wolf pack to be relocated after livestock depredations | Colorado Newsline

Wildlife officials say the move is "by no means a precedent" for how they "will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward."

coloradonewsline.com

 

[Foxyboy43]

In the area of Colorado where my brother (@Mountain Bug) lives they have recently stocked wolves and that has not gone at all as the bunny huggers expected (although it has gone exactly as the ranchers expected).
The wolves have found domestic livestock easy to catch and eat than wildlife, and Livestock Guardian Dogs are of little use against the entire pack. Yes, they can fend of single wolves, but the domestic animal kill has included more than a few LGDs

In one area the problem reached such a problem they chose to recapture and relocate the pack before the ranchers took matters into their own hands. However, all they’ve done is taken a pack trained to kill livestock and moved them to a new region with less, not No, livestock.

Colorado’s first reintroduced wolf pack to be relocated after livestock depredations | Colorado Newsline

Wildlife officials say the move is "by no means a precedent" for how they "will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward."

coloradonewsline.com

Dumb and dumber!

 

[Top Spanish Hunting]

In the area of Colorado where my brother (@Mountain Bug) lives they have recently stocked wolves and that has not gone at all as the bunny huggers expected (although it has gone exactly as the ranchers expected).
The wolves have found domestic livestock easy to catch and eat than wildlife, and Livestock Guardian Dogs are of little use against the entire pack. Yes, they can fend of single wolves, but the domestic animal kill has included more than a few LGDs

In one area the problem reached such a problem they chose to recapture and relocate the pack before the ranchers took matters into their own hands. However, all they’ve done is taken a pack trained to kill livestock and moved them to a new region with less, not No, livestock.

Colorado’s first reintroduced wolf pack to be relocated after livestock depredations | Colorado Newsline

Wildlife officials say the move is "by no means a precedent" for how they "will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward."

coloradonewsline.com

Here in Spain what has been seen is that the wolf prefers to attack wild animals first when they arrive in an area. The problem is that wild animals decrease their population very drastically and they have no choice but to attack livestock, which is also much easier for them.

It must be taken into account that a pack of wolves kills one animal a day, perhaps if they get a large deer they can feed on it for two days. In the Sierra de Gredos they are doing a lot of damage to the Ibex populations, they eat a female in one day and they catch them very easily, not to mention the young ones.

Normally they move from one area to another and cover a huge territory to hunt, but during the time of breeding the cubs they go to the livestock much more and also kill even more game to feed them.

 

[Top Spanish Hunting]

It is very interesting to see how in the Sierra de la Culebra area, where there is the largest population of wolves in Spain, in addition to the place where they have never become extinct and there have always been wolves in the wild. Game abounds there, there is a lot of deer, wild boar and roe deer. They live with the wolf on a daily basis, which has a very high population but with very established packs and very marked territories. This is what I mentioned before that when the fauna is used to it and has been living with the wolf for centuries, a balance is produced (nature is wise and adjusts itself) and there is no problem because of the wolf, in fact, it does a lot of good for the environment and Thanks to him (and other reasons of course) the best free range deer trophies in Spain are killed. And furthermore, there are very few attacks on livestock compared to the population of wolves that exist since they enjoy abundant natural food.

 

[Camdig]

In the area of Colorado where my brother (@Mountain Bug) lives they have recently stocked wolves and that has not gone at all as the bunny huggers expected (although it has gone exactly as the ranchers expected).
The wolves have found domestic livestock easy to catch and eat than wildlife, and Livestock Guardian Dogs are of little use against the entire pack. Yes, they can fend of single wolves, but the domestic animal kill has included more than a few LGDs

In one area the problem reached such a problem they chose to recapture and relocate the pack before the ranchers took matters into their own hands. However, all they’ve done is taken a pack trained to kill livestock and moved them to a new region with less, not No, livestock.

Colorado’s first reintroduced wolf pack to be relocated after livestock depredations | Colorado Newsline

Wildlife officials say the move is "by no means a precedent" for how they "will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward."

coloradonewsline.com

I think the Colarado situation is a even bigger scam as rural Colarado voted against and the big Cities push ahead anyway.


This fella is a joy to watch and has some great conversations with real ranchers.

 

[Camdig]

It is very interesting to see how in the Sierra de la Culebra area, where there is the largest population of wolves in Spain, in addition to the place where they have never become extinct and there have always been wolves in the wild. Game abounds there, there is a lot of deer, wild boar and roe deer. They live with the wolf on a daily basis, which has a very high population but with very established packs and very marked territories. This is what I mentioned before that when the fauna is used to it and has been living with the wolf for centuries, a balance is produced (nature is wise and adjusts itself) and there is no problem because of the wolf, in fact, it does a lot of good for the environment and Thanks to him (and other reasons of course) the best free range deer trophies in Spain are killed. And furthermore, there are very few attacks on livestock compared to the population of wolves that exist since they enjoy abundant natural food.

I admire your observations and description of the actions of the wolf.
If only the greens would consult with practical conservationists like yourself.

 

[Top Spanish Hunting]

I admire your observations and description of the actions of the wolf.
If only the greens would consult with practical conservationists like yourself.

Thanks!! Things will go better in general if people with knowledge made decisions that affect us all...

 

[Heym SR20]

As a Western post industrial Society we need to decide whether we want to live with nature, be part of nature and accept nature for what it is. For thousands if not millions of years mankind and our forefathers lived with and alongside wild animals.

Over the last thousand and definitely in the last few decades we have changed our planet beyond all recognition and pushed many ecosystems, environments, species towards or to the brink of extinction.

For thousands of years we have managed to raise livestock alongside large predators. Usually the most successful method is to look after the livestock closely, act as a shepherd or cowboy in partnership with large dogs. You keep the herd together, bring them to a place of safety at night and you use breeds that are able to defend themselves.

Mostly the job is really pretty simple. You walk or ride a horse, but a lot of the time you just sit.

Not of infrastructure is required. Your ancestors built stone kraaks, corrals, fanks or whatever you like to call them. These do need maintenance and putting stones back when they fall down. But othewise you sit on your arse keeping watch over the animals. At times it does get a bit hairy and then you and your friends pick up stones and make lots of noise. Once in a while it gets really exciting and your name goes down in history as the slayer of the lion or the wolf. It’s a job of work that children and the elderly can do.

In winter time, or the dry season you do need to move the animals to new pastures or bring them in and feed hay and other crops you have grown and harvested.

But then somebody came up with bright idea that it was far too hard to sit on horse or your arse watching animals. Stone walls and then fencing are a much better idea. So instead we send people out to pick up stones and build walls. It is hard graft. Or send them into the woods to cut down trees and make fence posts, and into the mines to dig up iron ore and to the smelters to make fencing wire.

You then spend your days banging in fence posts, stringing up wires and fence in the animal so they don’t wander. But they can’t get to the water, so you have to carry water to them, or lay pipes to bring water to the fields. But now after all this hardwork you can go and do other jobs such growing the crops to feed the animals.

And to any livestock the grass is always greener over the fence. Any farmer knows and understands this. So you spend a lot of time checking the fences, mending fences and rounding up animals that have got out.

And because the animals are now inside fences and not kept in flocks or herds they very quickly loose their genetic knowledge that actually its a lot safer to be in a herd. And any predators around quickly learn that fenced livestock are easy pickings. Push them to the fence and they can’t go anywhere.

So now the farmer has spend all his time chasing away the predators and now that we have rifles - shooting them. And because they are nocturnal he has to spend all night shooting them, which means he gets very little sleep and is grumpy.

Perhaps it was a lot easier in the days when we let the children and village idiots tend the livestock. Taking them out up onto the common land to graze abd at night bringing them into a stockade and sleeping with them.

With predators we haven’t yet learned to live with them. On our western isle the Sea Eagles are valuable source of income to all of those running Air BnBs, Boat trips, walking tours etc. But if you are a farmer who has lost a sheep you don’t see any of that value. To he local economy that sea eagle is worth far more than the £100 for the lamb when it gets to market.

If we are going to live alongside predators we as a society have got to refind ways of living alongside them and sharing the value that greater society places on them. And they do need management and keep them fearful of mankind. Hunting is part of that. A charging licence fees to those who want to hunt and contribute to the maintenance of wild places, then thats a very good way of doing things.

I was once involved in tracking down and hunting a cattle eating lion. An utterly thrilling, exhilarating and live changing experience. I can totally understand why people are prepared to pay big money to do such jobs.

 

[Trilby]

An interesting insight! Is there cases where they have attacked more then just livestock? gone for humans as well? I didn't realise there were bears also!
Although very annoying, I do take comfort with all these protected species and re wilding effort, it will only be a matter of time before control will be needed. Might be 5 years, might be 50 but like the badger situation in the uk there will be an undeniable saturation point!

 

[Dhindes]

In Switzerland the first wolf was sighted in the early 90s. Now we have around 200 and expected to get to 300 plus soon. Culling has started to protect livestock but I do not understand why they do not sell hunting licenses and plough the revenue back into conservation. Great to have the wolf back - just needs sensible management