Fapas have managed to capture some lovely photos of Villarina. the bear cub that was found alone on a road last year, and was later released back into the wild.
More on bears on the forum
Archive for the ‘Asturias’ Category
Bear cub photos
Friday, June 26th, 2009Captive bears mate
Monday, May 4th, 2009
The captive bears Paca and Furaco have finally mated after failing to do so last year. Paca has lived with her sister Tola in a mountainside enclosure for many years and both have play a great role in making bears accepted in Asturias among the general public. As I understand it any cubs are likely to have the fate, and be kept in semi-captivity.
More on Paca and Tola here and the story of the pairing here
Giant waves predicted for Spanish Atlantic
Friday, February 6th, 2009The inhabitants of Spain’s Atlantic and Cantabrian coastline will have to get used to more storms and giant waves as a result of global warming. Two waves of 26.13m and 24.64m hit the coast near Santender on January 22nd, the largest every recorded anywhere along the Spanish coastline. Both form part of general tendency detected of ever greater waves.
Bear building a den
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009Villarina the young bear which was recently released back in the wild after having been rescued as a cub has been busy recently building a den for herself as can be seen in this nice little video.
See also bear cub returned to wild
Latest lynx brief by Dan Ward
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Dan Ward has sent me his latest Lynx Brief, the essential periodic review in English of the state of the Iberian Lynx.
This issue looks at, among other topics, the international Iberian lynx seminar, current Iberian lynx numbers, plans for Iberian lynx reintroductions, inappropriate predator control, declines in wild rabbits and transparency of information in Castilla -La Mancha.
Some highlights which I have cropped from the original:
- On lynx numbers As reported at the III International Seminar, Iberian Lynx recovery has continued well in the Sierra Morena area just north of Andújar, Andalucía, with 40 breeding females, 55 cubs born in 2008 and 150 individuals overall. This compares with 18 females, 22 cubs and 60 individuals in 2002….As a result of this increase, the lynx area in Andújar-Cardeña has probably reached its carrying capacity and thus could provide animals for future reintroductions elsewhere. This is an unexpected, welcome and important achievement, not least because it is generally preferable to reintroduce felines bred in the wild rather than those bred in captivity (if possible) because they are more likely to be fully adapted to living in the wild.
- In addition to these in situ achievements in the Sierra Morena, the ex situ captive breeding programme has also progressed well, with 52 individuals, 24 of which were bred in captivity.
Moreover, the ex situ population will also be able to provide 20 to 40 individuals per year for reintroductions, from 2010. Finally, in Doñana, the lynx population seems to have remained steady in recent years, with around 50 individuals reported in total each year between 2002 and 2008. This is despite the loss of at least 9 individuals to Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV) in 2007, thanks partly to the successful translocation of a breeding male lynx from Andújar-Cardeña to Doñana in December 2007
(see LynxBrief no. 10 and 11). Moreover, a second lynx was successfully translocated into Doñana in November 2008. - On predator control Much of Spain and Portugal is used extensively for hunting, and this is especially true of current and potential lynx areas; e.g. 70% of Spain is covered by hunting estates (used by over 1 million registered hunters), and the majority of lynx living in the wild are situated in such estates. Moreover, techniques used by gamekeepers and landowners to kill, especially, rabbit and partridge predators have been strongly implicated in the past decline of the Iberian Lynx, and the on-going decline of many other species. For example, it is suspected that the 1990s extinction of the lynx population in Montes de Toledo, central Spain (where good habitat and rabbit populations remain) was due to the widespread use of leg traps and snares in the area.
- On rabbits and lynx One of the key obstacles to reversing rabbit decline has been that rabbits, and rabbit conservation, in Spain and Portugal have not been given the profile and attention they deserve….Fortunately, this situation has recently changed. In Portugal in 2006, national authorities re-classified the European Rabbit as “Near Threatened”, and in Spain in 2007, the species was re-classified by national authorities as “Vulnerable”. Moreover, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has also, just this year, re-classified the European Rabbit globally in its native range (Spain, Portugal and parts of north Africa) from “Least Concern” to “Near Threatened”.
- Castilla – La Mancha and transparency a lack of transparency of information has also been a key obstacle to Iberian Lynx conservation in recent years. A very current example, discussed at the International Seminar, was the presence of lynx in Castilla – La Mancha….The Castilla – La Mancha authorities have argued that they cannot release the location of their lynx because they fear attracting too many nature watchers to these areas. However, the precise location of lynx in Andalucía has been widely publicised for many years without a detrimental impact from the public….It has been alleged that the real reason that the Castilla – La Mancha government do not want to publicise the location of their lynx is actually because they are reluctant to share knowledge (and thus power), or because of a fear on the part of landowners that public knowledge of lynx presence will increase pressure for restrictions on the current use of predator control methods. Moreover, it has also been alleged that at least one of the locations of lynx in Castilla – La Mancha is a large estate bordering Andalucía, owned by a British Lord, who allegedly has considerable influence over local authorities.
Photo from the Iberian lynx recovery programme.
Illegal hunting ring broken
Monday, December 1st, 2008An important illegal hunting ring has been broken in the Cantabrian mountains of Asturias and León where two and six men respectively have been arrested. Various arms were found in their houses along with frozen and dried animal remains. Included among the boar, deer and rebeco (chamois) discoveries were specimens of endangered animals, a European Genet and a Capercaillie, the latter a species threatened with extinction in these mountains. The men were arrested following months of detective work by Seprona, the wildlife protection unit of the Guardia Civíl, and are suspected of charging money for guiding hunts as also found were large amounts of cash and paperwork stamped and ready for the transportation of the “trophies”. Other possible species to be found in the area concerned are Cantabrian brown bear and Iberian wolf. The case is continuing and more arrests are likely.
News from lne.es
Bear cub returned to wild
Friday, November 14th, 2008
The bear cub found injured in June was released back into the wild on Tuesday in Somiedo.
Lisa notes: “The movements of her family (mother and two sisters) have been monitored closely and the release was made in the same vicinity. As nothing like this has ever happened before in the Cantabrian mountains, the outcome is far from certain although Fapas are hopeful that she’ll be accepted back into the family group. They recount the story of bear cubs orphaned in the Pyrenees and later adopted by another female bear. She’s been tagged and is carrying two radio-transmitters which they say will be lost when she moults next spring.” Read more on this by Lisa on the forum
- See original story Bear cub found injured on road in Somiedo
Connecting Cantabrian brown bears
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008The Fundación Oso Pardo has nearly finished a study to find a communication corridor for the two, at present, separated bear populations. The study has identified problem areas and will propose at least four possible crossing points. It won’t be easy however as the zone to be used, through the Huerna Valley and over the Pajares mountain pass, is criss-crossed by roads and railways, including a dual carriageway and high-speed train linking Asturias with the Spanish central plains, which will have to be bridged. Also in the way are the odd ski resort or two. Deforestation is proving to be another stumbling block in the bears’ passage so they will also be recommending the replanting of trees to provide cover for the animals during their crossing. The study will be handed to the regional governments of Asturias and Castilla and León later this year.
News from elmundo.es
Photo from Mundo de Gea
More on Spain’s bears on the forum
Collserola hike
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Lucy has written another great post, this time on a walk we did in Collserola. Boars, botany, hedgehogs, spiders and these remarkable nightjars:
“Churring filled the twilight. Then close at hand came a soft quick call, and we saw the silhouettes of a pair of nightjars. Their long wings rose and fell as they encircled us. The reason was a fledgling on the path a few metres ahead, its eye gleaming in the torch light. The parents circled us even faster, like in a playground game, clapping their wings. As we approached, the bird on the path silently flew off.” Read
PS Thanks to Mónica for photo of boar.
Iberian wolf summer exhibitions
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Two exhibitions are running concurrently this summer in Spain to reveal the truth behind the myths that still abound regarding the Iberian wolf, Canis lupus signatus. Organised by Carlos Sanz, one of the leading Spanish defenders of the species, they will run until at least the end of August and are well worth a visit. Here are the addresses and opening times;
In the city of Guadalajara, Castilla La Mancha the exhibition is open to the public from 11.00 – 14.00, Monday to Friday in the Teatro Auditorio “Buero Vallejo”, Calle Cifuentes, 30.
In Asturias, the larger of the two exhibitions can be visited in the town of Belmonte de Miranda from 11.00 – 14.00 and from 16.00 – 20.00, every day.
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Saving the Cantabrian Capercaillie from extinction
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
As part of the Spanish ornithological society SEO/Birdlife’s campaign, El Sonido del Bosque (Sounds of the Forests), work-camps will begin this August to improve the habitat of the Cantabrian Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantábricus) in the Picos de Europa National Park. Working through to mid-December while the birds are at their most inactive, they hope to help promote the growth of berry-bearing plants and, at the same time, identify the Capercaillie population within the areas where the field-work will be concentrated. The last censuses of the remaining main populations centred in Asturias and León were carried out in 2001 and 1998-2000 respectively and gave a figure of about 400 individuals in total. SEO/Birdlife give a figure of 500, which supposedly takes into account the numbers of Capercaillie in the subspecies’ other habitats of Galicia and Cantabria, a number strongly refuted by the Asturian ornithological society, the Coordinadora Ornitolóxica d’Asturies, who say the total population must now be only about half that number.
Portuguese man o’war threat in Cantabrian Sea
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
Photo by Scott Sonnenberg (wikipedia)
In recent weeks the presence of Portuguese man o’war (Sp. carabela portuguesa- Physalia phisalis) has been detected at various points on the coasts of Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country. Several people have been stung in beaches in Guipúzcoa (Ondarreta and Zarautz) and in Cantabria (Isla) although nobody has yet been seriously injured. Four years ago, the massive presence of the species forced the closure of several beaches in Asturias. Experts believe that the rise in the temperature of the Cantabrian Sea due to climate change has brought the Portuguese man o’war here with warmer waters. The cooler waters of Galicia have so far been free of the threat. El País. The purple Man-o-war is not a true jellyfish, but a colony of hydrozoan polyps. It can in extreme cases provoke a cardiac arrest and death in particularly sensitive persons.
Note the English and Spanish etymology comes from the creature’s air bladder, which looks similar to the triangular sails of the Portuguese ship (man-of-war) Caravela latina (two- or three-masted lateen-rigged ship caravel), of the 15th and 16th centuries. See Wikipedia
See also: Sharks, weaver fish, jellyfish and other dangerous animals in the seas around Spain
+bears-co2
Saturday, July 12th, 2008Fapas have started a new campaign with the slogan Más osos menos CO2 (More bears less co2) to give local businesses an opportunity to neutralise their carbon emissions by planting fruit trees. The idea is for any interested companies to (simply) calculate their co2 emissions and Fapas then work out how many trees would need to be planted in bear habitat in the north of Spain. The companies will benefit by being presented with “green” certificates and the bears will profit by having more, for example, chestnut, apple and cherry trees from which to feed.
Capercaillie Mansín apparently killed by stray dog
Saturday, July 12th, 2008Mansin, the Capercaillie who had recently made his home in villages in the Redes Natural Park, Asturias was yesterday found dead in Tarna. Villagers blame a stray dog for his death. Members of the environmental department of the Asturian government and officers from Seprona, the wildlife protection unit of the Civil Guard, have collected what’s left of his body which will be taken to Madrid for forensic tests. There will probably follow an enquiry as the bird, a member of a species threatened with extinction in Spain, was supposedly being monitored to ensure something like this didn’t happen. See previous entries on Iberianature about Mansín and the topic on the forum.
News from lne.es
