Galicia’s wild horses in peril

加利西亚野生马匹处境堪忧

The Documentary Podcast

2025-09-02

29 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Europe’s largest herd of wild horses, in north-west Spain, is under threat. Numbers have halved in the last fifty years. Now around ten thousand wild horses roam freely in the hills and mountains of Galicia. But they are facing a number of challenges, not least the loss of their habitat and the threat from their main predator, wolves. There are also legal demands imposed by the regional government which have placed added financial burdens on the local people who, in effect, “own” these horses. And yet Galicia’s wild horses have been an integral part of the local culture for centuries, particularly during annual festivals known as “rapas das bestas,” the shearing of the beasts. The horses are also known as engineers of the landscape, credited with boosting the local flora and fauna and with helping to control forest fires. John Murphy travels to Galicia to hear what is happening to these extraordinary animals and why they are so important. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

  • That sound is people queuing up already,

  • waiting for the ticket office to open to buy their tickets for the day,

  • which I believe are going to be five euros each.

  • The ambulance is parked up in case there are any accidents.

  • And there are some people with red T-shirts on, and on the back, in white,

  • a picture of three horses, and above that, the words, which means the bringing down of the beasts.

  • They're all preparing for today's...

  • The shearing of the beasts.

  • We should buy our tickets.

  • I know, but...

  • Luisito is with us.

  • This is Assignment from the BBC and I'm John Murphy.

  • You used to organise this for many years.

  • How many years?

  • 35. 35 years, he's saying.

  • We did build the place, so the new people that came, they're just going with it.

  • And the place he's talking about is the curo,

  • which is basically an arena where eventually the horses will be squeezed into and then the rapa can begin.

  • You just heard my colleague Esperanza and Luisito, retired postmen.