2023-09-05 16:36:35
Emilio Macho is the owner of the Macho Balbás stud farm and is dedicated to raising foals in Requejo (Cantabria). He tells laSexta that every week he loses an average of 3 to 4 pups due to wolf attacks. For this reason, he says, being in an extreme situation: “This is easy to solve, but we did not find solutions,” says Macho.
Ranchers and autonomous communities that had demanded from Brussels a relaxation of the protection measures, applaud the proposal of the European Commission that opens the door to modify the protection of the wolf. Professionals have been asking for a control and a census of wolves in Spain for some time in order to protect their cattle, but they see themselves “with their hands tied with the current protection of wolves”, as Macho assures.
On the other hand, they also ask to be able to carry out controlled hunts: “We want that in the hunts themselves it is authorized to kill a wolf or two, which will not always come out because the wolf is very cunning,” he adds.
The European Commission has recognized in a statement that “the return of the wolf to EU regions where it has been absent for a long time leads increasingly to conflicts with local farming and hunting communities.” In fact, President Von der Leyen herself has declared that “the concentration of wolves in some European regions has become a real danger for livestock and, potentially, also for human beings.”
Hence the Commission has launched a new phase in its work and has invited local communities and scientists to submit reports with updated data on the wolf population and its effects. Based on the data collected, the Commission will decide on a proposal to amend the protection status of the wolf in the EU and make it more flexible if necessary.
A proposal applauded by farmers like Juan Carlos Quintela, in Lalín (Pontevedra), owner of 60 cows and two oxen. As laSexta recounts, the wolves killed 9 pups some years ago, 3 more the following year. An economic bump that is difficult to overcome “the death of each calf is a month’s salary. We work all year round, the costs are very high and maintaining ourselves costs us money. If on top of all the work, the wolf comes and we suffer those attacks, it creates an impotence that you don’t know what to do”.
Therefore, he believes that it is necessary to control the population of wolves and that they allow them to be hunted in areas with high populations and damage. “Where there was a high census, it should be possible to carry out controlled raids with Seprona agents, for example, so that they are in their habitat and do not approach the houses.”
Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla y León and Asturias are communities that have asked Brussels for changes to protect their cattle on different occasions, but the Spanish government has always opted for the most protective line with the animal.
Environmental groups insist that it is essential to protect the wolf. And they believe that more help is necessary to be able to live with him. “The wolf must be protected as it is done with the Iberian lynx, the imperial eagle or the brown bear. As a patrimony of all and of all. There should be much more aid, more preventive measures, conciliation measures and coexistence instead of lead” , says Fins Eirexas, technical secretary of ADEGA (Association for Ecological Defense of Galicia).
They are clear about the proposal to modify the wolf protection proposed by the European Commission, it can only be done if the data supports it. “If the EU is going to rethink the status of the wolf, which is a protected species, it will have to do so based on scientific data and not because of the pressure of a specific lobby,” adds Eirexas.
The deadline for submitting reports on the wolf ends on September 22. In April 2023, the Commission already started a data collection, but they failed to provide a complete picture for the design of new measures. That is why this new query is now performed.
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