Iberian wolf

The environmental assessment of the PDM marks a pack in the territory, based on information from the ICNF. It is a reference to the ecological importance of Cabeceiras, not a promise of sighting. Knowing this presence does not require looking for animals or disseminating shelter sites. The national platform relates the scarcity of wild prey to livestock consumption and conflict with pastoral communities. It points to the protection of herds and the recovery of natural prey as complementary parts of conservation.

A pack is also a changing family. The platform describes a breeding couple, descendants of different years and sometimes other related adults. The group defends a territory, but its composition changes with births, growth and dispersion.

In the general cycle presented to Portugal, the cubs are born at the end of April or in May. During the summer, the meeting places become centers of family activity; in the autumn, the young begin to accompany the adults in travel and hunting. It is not an observation calendar for a concrete pack.

When growing up, some youths leave the group of origin to search for territory, partner or other pack. Others remain longer when there is enough food. Therefore, a count at one time does not describe an immutable family: social life accompanies the annual cycle and landscape opportunities.