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Galhano Alves, J.P.
Of large carnivores and humans
1999 Down to Earth: 27-31
In Europe, people have tried to destroy the wolf since the Middle Ages. In many countries, such as England, France, and Germany, wolves have been exterminated completely. The European colonies in the Americas continued this war, killing millions of wolves in a short period. Even in other Western countries, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy, wolves have been persecuted, their number reduced to near extinction. But the species has survived. One of the few places in western Europe where wolves still survive is the Montesinho Natural Park in north-eastern Portugal. It is a hilly area of about 750 sq km with a Mediterranean climate. Forests and scrubs cover more than 50 per cent of the area, the rest being agricultural land. Over the centuries, people have destroyed native forests, cut trees for wood and burnt the scrubs to make provisory pastures. About 30 wolves still howl here, preying mainly on wild boar, roe deer, red deer and domestic sheep and goats.
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