Wolves
targeted inside National Park
January 2013. The Picos de Europa in northern Spain are a wild and wonderful
spectacle, and one of the few places in Europe that wolves and bears still
roam. This may now be under threat from the very authorities whose job it is
meant to be to protect the area.
The
National Park administration has collared several wolves as part of a 300,000
Euro research programme - "Monitoring populations of canids in the Picos
de Europa National Park". However local authorities have also paid local
hunters to eliminate some of the wolves after pressure from local farmers, and
at least two of the wolves being studied, that had been fitted with GPS
collars, have been killed.
This
medieval reaction ignores the importance of the wolf to local biodiversity, as
well as its economic importance to the local tourism industry. Many companies
run wolf watching tours
in Northern Spain, especially in thge Sierra de la
Culebra, providing a considerable boost to the economy.
Wolf
population
According to the official management report, the wolf population has grown and now includes an estimated 3-6 wolf packs spread across the park and in neighbouring regions, totalling between 30 and 55 animals. These wolf packs inhabit their traditional breeding areas in the park, and have repopulated the Dobres area where the pack had died out. Apparently, according to the Regional Minister "All the wolf packs have successfully bred this season".
According to the official management report, the wolf population has grown and now includes an estimated 3-6 wolf packs spread across the park and in neighbouring regions, totalling between 30 and 55 animals. These wolf packs inhabit their traditional breeding areas in the park, and have repopulated the Dobres area where the pack had died out. Apparently, according to the Regional Minister "All the wolf packs have successfully bred this season".
Pressure
from farmers has led to wolf persecution
Pressure from farmers in the Picos de Europa ranchers have driven politicians and local authorities to undertake an unprecedented massacre of wolves within the National Park, bypassing the ban on hunting in National Parks.
Pressure from farmers in the Picos de Europa ranchers have driven politicians and local authorities to undertake an unprecedented massacre of wolves within the National Park, bypassing the ban on hunting in National Parks.
Despite protests from many groups, the killings continue, even after the courts have issued two orders in ordering the suspension of the wolf hunt.
Study
wolves killed
As if the persecution wasn't bad enough, two wolves marked with GPS collars that were being studied by a project run by the local authorities (Together with two similar projects, the project receives some 300,000 euros from the administration itself). So, the local authorities are paying to study the wolves while also paying to have the same wolves shot. And this within a National Park where, in theory, the wolves are protected by law.
As if the persecution wasn't bad enough, two wolves marked with GPS collars that were being studied by a project run by the local authorities (Together with two similar projects, the project receives some 300,000 euros from the administration itself). So, the local authorities are paying to study the wolves while also paying to have the same wolves shot. And this within a National Park where, in theory, the wolves are protected by law.
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