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The motives behind a violent protest by thousands of Romanian shepherds outside the parliament in Bucharest. Lucy Ash meets the sheep farmers who took on the government over plans to limit numbers of sheepdogs and restrict their grazing rights. The increasing size of Romania’s flocks has led to a growing conflict with both hunters and conservationists over land use. The shepherds are fighting what they see as a threat to their traditional way of life in a country where one third of the population works in agriculture. But methods of farming are changing now that Romania has joined the European Union and more claims are being made upon the countryside.

(Photo: A herd of sheep)