

the Estrela's nemesis
The Iberian Wolf,
Who's afraid of him?

Painted in the popular imagination fables with disturbing and frightening colours, as a ferocious and dangerous creature for humans, the wolf has been, over the centuries, and is still today, misunderstood and wronged, persecuted and killed, almost driven to extinction. But this mysterious animal, with an intense look, is a shy being, who avoids approaching people, who lives in a pack, covered, away from villages, which they only approach when they're hungry and the lack of wild prey makes them search for livestock.
It was in this context that, in ancient times, the Estrela Mountain Dog came into this equation as the protector the shepherd needed to avoid and suppress wolf attacks. Over the centuries, they have faced each other and still do so today. Due to the Estrela's intervention, which significantly reduces the losses suffered in herds, the Iberian Wolf began, in recent decades, to be seen in a different way, even with some respect, by shepherds - although many of these animals continue to fall into traps and die in a cruel way due to the actions of those who do not want to understand that he is a carnivore fighting for survival. And that, to keep their livestock safe, any shepherd must acquire protection dogs. The conservation of the short-haired Estrela is mainly due to its use in this role. And if the breed has helped prevent the extinction of the Iberian Wolf, the other way round is also true. Old children's stories and horror fiction made this beautiful, enigmatic, admirable animal the "bad guy", a reputation that still persists today, irrationally and unfairly. We challenge you to go and meet him, albeit from afar, at the Iberian Wolf Recovery Center, near Mafra, Portugal, created, managed and preserved by the Grupo Lobo association, which has done so much for the conservation of this large carnivore but also for the Estrela Mountain Dog and other Portuguese livestock guarding dog breeds.
