Contacted by the Lusa news agency, Orlando Gonçalves referred to statements made earlier this month by the Minister of the Environment, who said that the Government will soon present a new decree-law to further strengthen the protection of the Iberian wolf.

The document was prepared with the Ministry of Agriculture, said the Minister, who was speaking at the presentation, in Lisbon, of the National Nature Restoration Plan (PNRN), a document that must be submitted to Brussels by September.

When questioned by journalists at the end of the presentation about environmentalists' fears that protections for the Iberian wolf might be reduced, the Minister denied it, saying, "You can rest assured."

“The latest news about wolf protection is causing great distress to those who live with the constant nightmare of this malignant tumour of extensive livestock farming, fostered and protected by lupine psychosis,” say the livestock breeders, in a note sent to Lusa.

The farmers claim to have gone to parliament on 13 May to expose “the drama” that plagues them, even inviting the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and the Sea to go to the field.

The invitation was issued for the 23rd, the annual date for marking Garrano horses in the Serra de Santa Luzia, in Viana do Castelo.

Orlando Gonçalves said that the Minister of Agriculture was invited “so that he could see ‘in loco’ the benefits of the wolf for the preservation of the Garrano horse”.

“The population was around a thousand, but the breeders say that this year they may not find 300,” he argued, adding that UPGALL “receives photos every week of animals killed and maimed by wolves”.

On the 23rd, the wild horses will be marked, the offspring will be counted, and other annual management operations will be carried out.

"In recent years, this has been a devastating reality, evidenced by the sharp reduction in herds due to the predatory action of the wolf," say the breeders.

Researchers concluded that livestock, particularly horses, can account for up to 80% of the Iberian wolf's diet in some areas of northwestern Portugal and Spain, which puts pressure on the endangered native species.

The species acts as a "buffer prey, favouring the reduction of predation on economically valuable livestock species such as cows, goats, and sheep," note the authors of the study, according to a statement from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP).

However, stallions are under "increasing pressure."