Francisco Álvares, Pedro Primavera, Francisco Petrucci-Fonseca, Grupo Lobo/Centro de Biologia Ambiental, FCUL, 1700 Lisboa, Portugal; Pablo Sierra, Centro de Recuperación de Fauna Silvestre de Coto Redondo, Vilaboa, Pontevedra, Portugal; Pedro Alonso, ARCEA, Xestión de Recursos Naturais, Apdo 5330, 36280 Vigo, Portugal

During medieval times, the wolf was used by the Catholic Church as a symbol of evil. The strong religiosity of medieval people has lead to a mythological and supernatural dimension of the wolf which contributed to the persecution and extermination that the wolf has suffered during the last centuries. This strong religiosity, still present nowadays in rural communities inhabiting the mountains of North Iberia, associated with their isolation, allowed the survival of a rich cultural heritage in what concerns their relation with the wolf - legends, myths, beliefs and artifacts - impossible to find in other regions of Europe.

In 1997 a Portuguese-Galician study was designed to gather information on different cultural manifestations of the wolf in the rural commuinities of North Iberian Península, such as stories about werewolfs or other supernatural aspects; prayers to avoid wolves damages in livestock and wolf parts used as an object with an healing power. Other aspect of this research of the wolf in Human culture is which concerns the wolf as a real threat to man and livestock. The wolf as a threat to livestock in Iberia, gave origin to several breeds of livestock guarding dogs, different types of anti wolf spiny collars and armours used by these dogs and the development of several ways to kill wolves. However, maybe the fojo (stone pits and deadfall traps), with 5 different types, is the more peculiar way of fighting this predator. This ancient structures have, in the mountains of North Iberia, their main and practically unique area of occurrence in the world.

The study and safeguard of these cultural manifestations is urgent as it gives important information about rural communities attitudes towards wolves and expresses the intimate bonds that link the rural people to its natural environment and combines pagan beliefs with catholic religiosity.