The Iberian wolf (
Canis lupus
) bred again in the Community of Madrid in 2013, after disappearing for more than six decades due to the persecution to which the species then considered a vermin was subjected.
There were seven specimens: two adults (alpha pair), one subadult and four cubs, which over the years have become five breeding packs, estimates the regional government.
Its presence in the Madrid mountains provokes multiple complaints from ranchers about attacks on their herds, but what does this predator really eat?
“Wolves fed more on wild ungulates [animals with hooves], 82%, than on domestic animals, 18%,” concludes the study carried out by Dr. Isabel Barja, professor of Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid and expert on the species, in collaboration with the research center of the Sierra del Guadarrama National Park.
The canid's favorite prey are the wild boar (
Sus scrofa
) and the roe deer (
Capreolus capreolus
).
A diet in which “the preference for wild ungulates over domestic ones remains constant,” although it varies between years and depends on the seasons and forest regions, the research maintains.
The percentage of domestic prey captured does not change either and “no year has the frequency of appearance in feces exceeded 20%,” says Barja.
There are attacks on livestock, "but it is proven that their consumption is residual compared to wild animals," the scientists say.
The study was carried out in the Sierra del Guadarrama National Park, in the Sierra del Rincón Biosphere Reserve and neighboring areas, in an area of 100,775 hectares.
In them, Barja and his team collected 671 fecal samples between 2017 and 2021. The diet of the wolves was determined from the analysis of the cells on the outside of the hair found in the excrement, which are different between species.
“It is a very interesting area to study the behavior between the wolf and its prey in the long term as it has recently been colonized by the species, where the importance of the wolf in regulating the ecosystem by modulating the abundance of large herbivores can be verified,” states the researcher.
At the same time, she adds, it is necessary to maintain the populations and diversity of wild ungulates, because it helps reduce attacks on livestock and the conservation conflicts posed by the canid.
“We have been following the species since 2017 and the type of prey species consumed has remained surprisingly stable,” adds Barja.
Stable, but with certain variations.
From 2017 to 2019, the Madrid wolves mainly opted for the roe deer, the smallest species of European deer considered emblematic in the Sierra del Guadarrama National Park.
But in recent years, the wild boar has come to occupy first place on the predator's menu, due to the decline of the roe deer and the high availability of young wild boars.
Declines of more than 30% have been detected in the habitats where the roe deer were found, according to censuses carried out by the national park in spring of last year.
“It is relatively easy for two wolves to kill an adult deer, however, their life is much more at risk if they attack an adult wild boar or an ibex,” says Barja.
Perhaps this has caused the ibex (
Capra pyrenaica
) to not be on the wolf's list, to which we can add the inaccessible cliffs through which the bovid moves.
Something that would have helped the national park managers to reduce the high density of ibex - it is the ungulate with the greatest presence in the protected space.
But “its consumption was sporadic, except for a slight increase in 2019,” says the study.
The ungulate has only appeared in 3% of the samples, with an increase to 5% in some years, “but always anecdotally,” indicates the scientist.
The fact is that there are still plenty of goats in the park - currently it is estimated that there are 5,172 individuals -, although population growth has stagnated and the current density is lower than that of 2019, because the environment has reached capacity limit and the extractions that have been made.
Between live captures and hunting, around 1,100 specimens have been removed between 2009 and 2022. The latest report on the development of the management plan for these populations adds as one of the possible causes of this decrease the “indications” that point to to the possibility that there is an uptick in poaching in search of the prized trophies.
horse carrion
Another prey that has begun to be part of the predator's diet is the horse, but very sporadically.
Barja considers it a “curious” fact, which, without ruling out other hypotheses, could be related to the increase in feed prices due to the war in Ukraine, which would have caused a lower supplementary supply of feed in winter to the horses and increased their death. natural.
“The wolf would have consumed the horse's carrion, because it is difficult for them to kill an adult specimen, especially having smaller prey within their reach,” says Barja.
Scientists also found that during ungulate breeding seasons, wolves have more options to choose from due to births and the ease of catching offspring.
The wolf has been protected throughout the national territory since September 2021 and a specimen can only be captured with a permit and if it is proven that it is causing damage and that the measures taken to prevent it do not work.
In the Community of Madrid, attacks on livestock have decreased by 67.34%, from 398 in 2018 to 130 officially recognized in 2023, due to prevention work, investment in infrastructure and good practices by owners, it indicates. the regional government in a statement.
Last year, those affected received 98,626 euros to alleviate the damage to their livestock herds.
For 2024, an investment of 200,000 euros in direct aid has been approved: 500 euros per deceased sheep and goat, and 1,000 euros for cattle and horses, which may increase if loss of profit or indirect damage occurs.
All this to try to improve the coexistence of ranchers with the five breeding herds installed in the Sierra del Rincón, the Lozoya valley and the surroundings of Santa María de la Alameda.
A stable presence of specimens has also been detected in several points southwest of Guadarrama.
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