Focus on Arts and Ecology

February 15, 2022 

The massacre occurred during a commercial hunt in the Los Posteruelos private estate in Villaviciosa de Córdoba, near the Andalusian hills.

The 447 animals were confined by fencing, unable to flee the 70 hunters that took part in the hunt.

Each participant was charged €1,000 for the shoot, which is permitted in Spain.

However, animal rights activists claim that the use of fencing is immoral and have criticised the hunt after photographs of the animals’ carcasses were circulated online.

According to them, each hunter killed six or seven animals, which is substantially greater than on an usual day’s hunt.

According to Manuel Gallardo, president of the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation, large-scale hunting is “essential due to the surplus of game.”

But Joaquín Reina from Ecologists in Action blasted the shoot as an ‘orgy of blood and death’.

Animal rights groups say the use of fencing is unethical and have condemned the hunt after images of the animals’ carcasses were shared online.

He said: ‘This is the daily life of most of the fenced estates in Sierra Morena, but also throughout Andalusia, with some 500,000 hectares fenced, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and the Levante region.’

He said the massacre would be impossible on an open estate, saying: ‘The only defence is escape and this is absolutely diminished by a wire barrier.’

But Gallardo argued that the animals needed to be killed to ‘maintain the balance in the environment’.

He added that the ritualistic display of the animals’ bodies on the floor was also necessary for health regulations.

He said hunting is essential not only for conservation but also for the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the region, saying it generates €6.5billion a year.

The Association of Law Professionals United for Animal Defense and the Environment of Córdoba has now demanded more information on the hunt to prove its legality.

Advocates say hunting is essential not only for conservation but also for the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the region, saying it generates €6.5billion a year.

The Association of Law Professionals United for Animal Defense and the Environment of Córdoba has now demanded more information on the hunt to prove its legality.

In January 2019, a similar hunt on the same estate resulted in the deaths of 413 animals by 76 hunters.

The campaigners said they ‘will be raising its voice for the innocent being massacred’.

Princes William and Harry have previously taken part in boar hunts in Cordoba as a guest of the late Duke of Westminster.

The brothers flew out in 2014 to Finca La Garganta, one of the largest and most exclusive hunting estates in western Europe.

It is believed the animals on the shoot were not fenced in on the 37,000-hectare property which is teeming with wildlife including wild boar and stag.

Wild boar hunting in popular in Spain and can be hunted year-round without restrictions.

The animal is also considered a pest in many Spanish cities, with regular reports of them attacking and biting locals.

One unfortunate recent victim was the popstar Shakira after two wild boar snatched her handbag in a Barcelona park.

Boar numbers have reportedly doubled in recent years, as pro-hunting groups say the practice keeps population levels stable.

Hunting has a long tradition in Spain, with ‘la monteria’ dating back to the Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula.

Early records show King Alfonso XI took part in hunts in the early 14th century with hounds and beaters.

This article by Jack Newman was first published by The Mail Online on 7 February 2022. Lead Image: Nearly 450 deer and wild boar have been slaughtered in a single day’s hunt in Spain as environmentalists slam the ‘orgy of blood and death’.

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