Wild horses reintroduced in Portugal

World
Europe

A concerted effort to save horses in Portugal, under the banner of Rewilding Europe, a nonprofit group that seeks to turn the loss of rural farming life into an opportunity to boost biodiversity, is just the kind of story a reporter wants on a brisk late-winter day.

We drove into eastern Portugal from neighboring Spain and stayed the night at a rural hotel in the medieval village of Castelo Rodrigo, way atop the hill in the remains of the old castle. After a hearty dinner and a good night’s sleep, we ventured out the next morning – the only day of the week when heavy rain wasn’t predicted.

Biologist Pedro Prata, the Portugal coordinator for the project, met us in a banged-up old four-wheel drive Land Rover in a neighboring village, by the church, and we then drove with him into the area of Faia Brava, or Wild Cliff, nature preserve. The rarest horse they’re tending to is the Sorraia.

Rewilding Europe biologist Pedro Prata with garrano horses /CGTN Photo

Only an estimated 600 remain, Prata says, and not all of them are here.

We came upon a small herd early in the morning, still feeding on fresh hay left for them in a protected, fenced in natural park where they have plenty of room to roam at will.

Prata pointed out their ancient features: stripes on the legs, double-color manes, and a particular ancient shape of their bodies, which make them more like wild animals.

Sorraia horses /CGTN Photo

Next, we drove into nature preserve itself, each time, opening a gate, then driving through, then stopping to close the gate, to leave it just as we had found it. High in the hills above a river that runs underneath the prominent Wild Cliff, we saw the Garrano horses, of which many thousands remain.

Rural hotel terrace near wild horses /CGTN Photo

They’re in the nature preserve to increase their numbers and, since it was mating season, we happened to come upon an energetic attempt by two horses to do just that, to make more of their kind.

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