{"id":72560,"date":"2025-04-05T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eco123.info\/?p=72560"},"modified":"2025-04-08T09:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T08:59:15","slug":"when-the-coast-is-clear-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eco123.info\/en\/portugal-en\/when-the-coast-is-clear-2\/","title":{"rendered":"When the coast is clear\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, 1 April, we\u2019re staying in Portugal, on our own doorstep, so to speak. I\u2019m dealing with animals. Yes, we are not alone on this planet, dear friends. We humans have multiplied and prevailed over animals to such an extent that we are now the ones who call the shots. We are, so to speak, without external enemies. All together, we humans now number more than eight and a half billion. We can only become our own enemies. But, even so, that is still far too short-sighted.<\/span><\/p>\n

I watch my black cat, Titinha, every day. She is a beautiful, slim and healthy cat who gets her food from me every morning and evening. When she\u2019s not there, because she\u2019s out walking again, a thieving magpie will wait in a cedar tree and keep a watchful eye on the area. I have already recognised that much myself. After a while, as soon as I close the front door, it flies to the cat\u2019s food bowl and starts stealing her food. <\/span>When the coast is clear<\/i><\/span>. We\u2019ve already come this far. Birds now eat cat food. From this, we can deduce that cat food may be considered a delicacy by magpies, who are probably not so picky… But I don\u2019t want to write a food review here and now. One question did, however, spring to my mind and it has stayed with me ever since.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
CINEREOUS VULTURE (Aegypius monachus),<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why don\u2019t we simply live in peaceful coexistence with all the creatures that exist on this planet? My cat only ever comes home when the bird has finished its meal. Then she arrives home empty-handed. Now I also have a dog. Like me, he has noticed that the bird steals the cat\u2019s food, and so he chases it away with his loud barking. Ideally, he would like to grab the bird by the neck, shake it back and forth and make it realise that it shouldn\u2019t steal the food, because Titinha and Max, the dog, are friends. Unfortunately, he has no other choice than to put on a brave face. The bird calls the shots. It has wings; the dog has none and can\u2019t fly (yet), although he would like to try. At least, that\u2019s the impression I get quite frequently.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recently read in a news article that an experiment known as \u2018rewilding\u2019 is taking place in Portugal. It is sponsored by some members of the Dutch royal family. Kings generally have little to do, so they work a little less than normal people. That\u2019s probably why they have a lot more free time and more money. \u2018Rewilding\u2019 is a concept designed to bring a little more biodiversity into our complicated and monotonous world. Garrano horses are being reintroduced into the wild in Portugal. Then there is the bison, an ancestor of the cattle that nowadays end up on our plates. And, of course, there is also something special: perhaps a bird \u2013 no, not a thieving magpie \u2013 but, yes, a family of vultures that perch high up among the rocks of the River C\u00f4a and nest there in their crevices. C\u00f4a?<\/span><\/p>\n

The River C\u00f4a is the only river in the Iberian Peninsula that flows from south to north into the River Douro. It is a beautiful river. Spreading over just more than 200 kilometres, it rises near F\u00f3ios on the Spanish border, and then wends its way through the Serra da Malcata to Sabugal. From there, it flows further and further north, through Faia Brava, the only private nature reserve in Portugal, into the River Douro at Vila Nova de Foz C\u00f4a, on the border between the districts of Bragan\u00e7a and Guarda. If you take the Grande Rota Vale da C\u00f4a hiking trail (GR 45) along the river, you will need at least ten days to get to know not only this natural part of Portugal, but also its vultures. They live there in the wild, alongside the Garrano wild horses, the bison buffalos, and many other animal species. A few weeks ago, the first official feeding ground was opened for the vultures. There they can feed on the carrion of the dead sheep provided by the shepherds, eat the expired meat from supermarkets, and other dead animals can also be deposited there. You probably know that vultures don\u2019t eat cat food…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ECO123 online, to be continued next Saturday at nine o\u2019clock at the same place.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Uwe Heitkamp (65)<\/h3>\n

trained television journalist, book author and hobby botanist, father of two grown-up children, has known Portugal for 35 years, founder of ECO123.
\nTranslators: Dina Ad\u00e3o, John Elliot, Patr\u00edcia Lara
\nFotos: Juan Carlos Munoz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, 1 April, we\u2019re staying in Portugal, on our own doorstep, so to speak. I\u2019m dealing with animals. Yes, we are not alone on this planet, dear friends. We humans have multiplied and prevailed over animals to such an extent that we are now the ones who call the shots. We are, so to speak, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,131,173,1485],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-ecology","category-nature","category-portugal-en","category-zw1-2-en","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the coast is clear\u2026 - Eco123<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eco123.info\/en\/portugal-en\/when-the-coast-is-clear-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the coast is clear\u2026 - Eco123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, 1 April, we\u2019re staying in Portugal, on our own doorstep, so to speak. 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