Hundreds of Deer and Wild Boars Shot Ahead of Wind Farm Construction

The Portuguese government has immediately halted an environmental impact report (EIR) for the construction of a large wind farm after hundreds of deer and wild boars were killed on the estate. All preparatory work for the solar park in Herdade (also called ‘Quinta’) da Torre Bela must also be suspended.

The ‘culling’ of the wildlife was said to be necessary for the development and arrangement of the area, so that it can be prepared (with Portuguese and European subsidies) for the building of a wind farm. For this purpose, a group of sixteen Spanish ‘hunters’ was hired who, on December 17, shot over five hundred deer and boars in the walled area. They then posted photos of the kill on Facebook.

The bloodbath has since been spread by national media and picked up by international sources, including the BBC. The BBC highlighted a statement from the Portuguese Ministry of Environment stating that the ‘arbitrary slaughter’ of the animals ‘had nothing to do with hunting’.

But there are still many doubts: three days after the uproar hit the headlines, the owners of the estate – via media consultants – said they had absolutely nothing to do with the ‘hunt’, which they described as ‘illegal’. “Herdade da Torre Bela strongly rejects the incorrect, illegal and offensive manner in which a hunt was conducted on the premises on December 17.”

Attempts by journalists to identify the owners of Torre Bela, however, have raised even more questions. It appears that the ‘real owner’ might be Isabel dos Santos – the former ‘first daughter of the president of Angola’. She was once ‘Africa’s richest woman’ and is now embroiled in the Luanda Leaks scandal.