European Wolves

[Sully]

Scientists confirm that wolves help to have healthier cattle

Wolves and cattle are presented as irreconcilable enemies , but in reality they are not so much . Its presence, far from being a problem, can help control diseases that cause serious economic losses to the rural world such as tuberculosis . And they usually spread wild boars, deer, roe deer, fallow deer and other large wild animals.

Wolves focus on the most vulnerable prey , those that can hunt with less effort such as sick individuals. This allows a natural reduction of the transmission of these diseases, thus reporting a benefit to the economy of the agricultural sector.

This is one of the conclusions drawn from the publication ' Essential aspects of the wolf and its management ' that is part of the communication and dissemination actions of the LIFE 'The wolf in Andalusia: changing attitudes ', whose main objective is to raise awareness about the importance of conserving wolf populations in Andalusia. Its author is Juan Carlos Blanco , a biologist who has been dedicated to the study and conservation of the wolf in Spain for more than 25 years.

Natural control

Scientists consider the role of " health police " played by the wolf in southern Spain, where ungulates of hunting interest have a serious problem of prevalence of diseases transmissible to domestic livestock, especially tuberculosis.

The data of the Program of Epidemiological Surveillance of the Wild Fauna in Andalusia (PVE) collected in the publication indicate that the percentage of positive samples with tuberculosis in farms of Sierra Morena de Córdoba and Jaén is 15.5% among the cervids and 57 , 8% in the case of wild boar, the proportion of animals positive for salmonellosis and aujeszky being 81.8% and 38%, respectively. On the contrary, in a study carried out in Galicia and Asturias, where there are large populations of wolves and much lower densities of wild ungulates, the prevalence of tuberculosis in wild boars was only 2.6%.

Based on this information, it is concluded that the problem of tuberculosis in domestic cattle is very difficult to deal with if the densities of wild ungulates are not reduced , which also devour fresh grass if its population is uncontrolled.

"Hence the relevant role of the Iberian wolf as a crucial element in maintaining the biological balances of the ecosystems in which it inhabits as the most widespread natural ungulate hunter in the northern hemisphere," said those responsible for the LIFE El lobo project in Andalusia .

Rural environment dynamizer

The manual also includes some of the key aspects of the species, which thanks to its great adaptability has been able to prevent extinction . The evolution of the canid in the Iberian Peninsula is traced from the end of the 19th century to the present, being the most lobera areas of Spain Castilla y León, Galicia and Asturias, where 90% of the population is concentrated. In Andalusia it is not clear that there are breeding herds today.

Likewise, the enormous possibilities of the wolf as a revitalizer of the rural environment are addressed in the face of the rise of an observation tourism  that increasingly values the attractiveness of species such as the bear or the wolf in their natural habitat and as representative cultural and symbolic elements of a territory. It is a responsible tourism, based on the appreciation of nature and culture, which must be informative and cause minimal impact , inconvenience and environmental pollution, being a good way to economically value the wolf, as well as educating and raising awareness among the general public It produces benefits for rural communities.

Blanco affirms in this work that although in Sierra Morena, due to its particular characteristics, the tourism of observation of fauna in general and of wolves in particular will not reach the importance that it acquires in other traditionally wolf zones of Spain such as Somiedo (Asturias ) or the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora), it can become a complementary resource, that generates jobs and that contributes to diversify the economic contributions that are received in the territory by other concepts. It also aims to strengthen the wolf heritage (which has been inventoried by Life Lobo Andalucía) and to include visits to livestock farms to show visitors the way of life of this group that lives daily with the wolf.
The publication can be downloaded in pdf format in this link .

https://blogs.20minutos.es/cronicaverde/2019/02/08/los-cientificos-confirman-que-los-lobos-ayudan-a-tener-el-ganado-mas-sano/ Reply