Maronês Cattle as a Companion Species: Reflections about Multispecies Relationships and Environmental Culture in Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro

Abstract

This article examines Marão cattle as a companion species to the human inhabitants of the Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro region, discussing multispecies relationships, environmental culture, and habitus. It provides a historical context for the presence of the Maronesa breed in the Marão and Alvão mountain ranges and adjacent areas, linking the long-standing human impact on the landscape, the memory of the Iberian aurochs, and the breed’s establishment in a mountainous territory marked by extreme climatic conditions, subsistence agricultural practices, and strong symbolic and cultural significance. Drawing on documentary and bibliographic sources, interviews, and on-site observation, the text explores the interactions between Maronesa cattle, the Iberian wolf, people, and their dogs, highlighting practical schemes of management, defense, and cooperation that give rise to transgenerational social practices and local knowledge. It also analyzes the so-called “natural working aptitude” of the Maronesa, highlighting the breed’s role in plowing, in the transport of people and goods, and at regional fairs, where the cattle are displayed as economic and symbolic capital and an element of family prestige. It is further argued that the Maronês cattle transcend strictly utilitarian interpretations, emerging as a central companion species in the production of a specific environmental culture, in the maintenance of community practices and memories, and in the construction of a sense of belonging to the land, reflecting on mountain management models that integrate biodiversity conservation, family farming and contemporary local development projects.