‘I got to know the wolf’: how Spain’s shepherds are learning to live with their old enemy

As wolf numbers surge, herders in the north of the country are relearning old ways to keep the apex predators at bay

In the pre-dawn darkness of Sierra de la Culebra, Zamora, Spain, a sudden howl pierces the cold. More join in, until the baying chorus echoes all around. As the sky beings to lighten, their shapes emerge: first the alpha male, and then the rest of the wolf pack, appearing in the twilight where light and darkness merge.

In Europe, this large carnivore was hunted for centuries and almost exterminated, surviving only in inaccessible or sparsely populated areas. Now, thanks to changing attitudes and increased protection, Europe’s wolf population is slowly recovering, and the apex predators are gradually returning to their former territories.

The Iberian wolf had practically disappeared by the 1970s, but numbers have been steadily growing