A pack of wolves has killed a total of 17 sheep of the native breed of La Rubia del Molar and has injured 28 others from the same herd on a farm in the Madrid town of El Escorial.
As reported to Europa Press by Miguel Higueras, head of the operation of the Corps of Forestry Agents of the Community of Madrid – who are in charge of the expertise, the field work and the inspection of the land in this type of attacks – the wolves attacked this farm on November 24 and 27 and on December 7, with the official result mentioned above.
The three deadly intrusions occurred at dawn and by at least two wolves, as they are the ones that have been sighted in the area for some time. In addition to the death of several older sheep, they have also been affected several young and bottle-raised lambs that were loose on the farm.
The forestry agents, who go to each point of attack once they are informed by the owner, have advised this owner preventive measures to avoid more wolf attacks. The first thing is to use mastiff dogs (currently I only had one old and lame), a electrified fence and place sound deterrent plastic strips.
The farmer has already fenced the sheep, although for now the installation It is not completely waterproofthe same sources have indicated. Agents from the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard have also attended the site, although this Corps indicates that they are not aware of it at the moment. no official complaint in the barracks.
The injured party told the newspaper The World that one of the attacks was at 4 in the morning and that when he went out to see what was happening He found five wolves attacking. “I can say that the carnage that was there was something to cry about. I have the look of that animal etched in my mind, along with the anguish and helplessness of the situation,” he said.
No attack on humans
According to data provided by the regional Executive, in recent years attacks by these predators on cattle have decreased. In 2023 they signed up 78 attacks compared to 94 in 2022 and 115 in 2021. In 2018 the record for attacks was broken with 318, 240 of them between January and September.
Miguel Higueras has indicated that it has been reported no wolf attack on a human being nor in Madrid and the rest of Spain in all of history, despite centuries of stories and legends to the contrary. What is known are wild dog attacks to people and it is precisely the presence of the wolf in a place that prevents these wild dogs from settling, since they are killed for being direct competitors.
On the other hand, most of wolf feeding In the region it comes from deer and wild boars that they hunt, according to the analyzes carried out on their feces. Therefore, when they arrive and settle in a new area, they do not usually attack livestock unless it is easy for them to penetrate their farms. And when they do it the first time, they tend to repeat it, according to the same sources.
For this reason, the Community of Madrid offers subsidies for livestock farmers to incorporate preventive methods to avoid attackslike those mentioned above. And also compensation for the death of an animal. Precisely, last Thursday the Official Community Gazette announced an allocation of 100,000 euros in direct aid “aimed at making livestock activity compatible with the presence of wolves, feral dogs and vultures.”
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