THOUSANDS of demonstrators marched through Madrid today calling for greater protection for the Iberian wolf, which is in danger of extinction.
Organised by numerous pro-animal and conservation associations including the WWF, European Greens, European Wolf Conservation Alliance, Ecologists in Action and Marley Wolf, the protest filled the streets of the capital starting from the entrance to the ministry of agriculture building and finishing in the Puerta del Sol square.
Campaigners called for a strict clampdown on Iberian wolf-hunting and protection laws to be fully implemented, on practice as well as on paper.
“The Iberian wolf is the jewel in our fauna crown,” said Juan Carlos del Olmo, secretary-genearal of WWF Spain.
He complained about the 'postcode lottery' the wolf population suffers from – those to the south of the river Duero, in Castilla y León, are tightly protected, but those to the north of the river are at the mercy of different regional laws.
Yet in neighbouring Portugal, these wolves are heavily protected by stringent conservation laws, Del Olmo says.
The final manifesto read out in the Puerta del Sol called for uniform protection measures and a complete ban on wolf-hunting.
