The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-Asaja) reported this Wednesday the first declared attack by a pack of wolves on livestock in the Valencian Community, which was recorded on a farm in Aras de los Olmos (Valencia).
As noted by the agricultural organization in a statement, this confirms “the arrival of said predator to this autonomous community and its rapid expansion throughout Spain since the Government included it in 2021 within the list of protected species and prohibited its hunting.” .
The farmer Antonio Miguel Álvaro, member of the board of directors of AVA-Asaja, found ten dead sheep on his farm in Aras de los Olmos from a bite on the neck to suffocation by wolves.
According to the association, these animals entered at night under the fence that surrounds a 5,000-square-meter enclosure, with a central nave, and in addition to causing the death of the ten sheep, they caused the rest of the flock, more than 400, to flee. animals, almost all pregnant, through the mountains.
Relatives and workers have recovered the vast majority of sheep, but “they are afraid and could have problems with the delivery scheduled for April,” the organization notes. The AVA-Asaja rancher will request “fair” compensation, since he states that the insurance “will not compensate for the losses suffered and much less estimated in the birth, and/or facilities to reduce the population of this predator.”
