Archive for the ‘Mammals’ Category
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
The wolf appears to have firmly returned to Catalonia after an absence of more than 70 years. In the last few years a dozen or so animals have been gradually arriving from France (see below) and settled in the Pyrenees, and have even reached as far south as the Vallés Oriental. The news was released in the latest issue of the Spanish wildlife journal Quercus which reports the presence of up to 13 different individuals, some identified only once and others that appear and disappear depending on the year. However, so far all animals have been males, except for a female detected in 2008. This is a common pattern, as young males tend to be the first to disperse, which explains in part why so far there is no evidence of breeding in Catalonia.The wolves have been detected in across an area of some 1,400 square kilometers in the Cadi mountains and other surrounding mountain ranges in Alt Urgell, Cerdanya, Alt Solsonès, and Berguedà. Unsurprisingly, the animal’s return has revived the traditional conflict with farmers and in the early years there was an average annual loss of about 80 head of livestock, although in some years more than 200 were lost. These attacks on livestock, for which farmers are compensated, have declined dramatically following various protective measures: just 3 sheep were lost in 2009 and 10 in 2010. ABC + Photo from here
How long before they reach Barcelona’s Collserola I wonder.
I wrote this last year
Tests have shown that this new influx of wolves in Catalonia is genetically Italian in origin, forming part of an expansion over a number generations out from the Apennines. The Apennine population began to expand in several directions from the early 1990’s. It moved north into the Italian and Swiss Alps; north-east into the French Alps and Lyon, and east towards the Pyrenees, reaching the Maritime Alps near Nice by 1996, Saboya by 1998. An individual was detected between Areja and French Cerdenya by August 1998 in the Madres Massif, just to the north of Canigó, and finally by 2004 into the Cadí range. The last Catalan wolf was shot in Horta de Sant Joan, in Tarragona in 1929, though the animal is thought to have disappeared from the Sierra de Cadí more than 100 years ago
Tags: Spanish wildlife journal Quercus, Wolves in the Cadi
Posted in Catalonia, Mammals, Wolves | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
I’ve been woefully neglecting this section of iberianature recently. Here are a couple of recent wildlife stories in the English press.
The Missing Lynx (The Guardian) Good article. “Ten years ago, there were barely 100 Iberian lynx left. But an innovative Spanish conservation programme is rescuing them from the edge of extinction”
And this story about ancient giant bunnies from Menorca reported in The Scientist
The skeletal remains of a 26-pound rabbit was found on an island off the coast of Spain. Dubbed the Minorcan King of the Rabbits, this ancient rabbit lived approximately three to five million years ago and now adds evidence to a curious rule concerning the evolution of animals in islands. The so-called “island rule” states that big animals will get smaller and small animals (such as rabbits) will get bigger when the population is isolated on an island, perhaps due to the lack of mainland predators. In this case, the King is a whopping six-times larger than living European rabbits, but due to a rigid spine and short legs, it was also unable to hop.
Posted in Andalucia, Balearics, Iberian lynx, Mammals, rabbits in Spain | No Comments »
Monday, December 13th, 2010
My friend Lisa has posted this excellent wildlife watching report to Extremadura. I love reports like this that don’t just focus on the birds. Lots of interesting stuff on insects, amphibians and as you can see, she chanced upon these otters at a “a small, reed-fringed reservoir” somewhere near Torrejon el Rubio. “Gambolling along the spit they chased away a competing Little egret before returning to the water and swimming towards the main body of the reservoir, followed by a very excited otter-watcher.” Read more here
Posted in Extremadura, Otters in Spain | No Comments »
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
It appears that Camille, the last autochthonous Pyrenean bear, may have died, after 9 months without any sign of him. His death at the age of 20 comes as no surprise but is a sad symbol of the disappearance of bears in the range. Now the hope lies in the 20 or so bears which have introduced (or born of introduced animals) in the Pyrenees by the French government from Slovenia. In the photo Camille sits next to the tasty feast of a dead wild boar, somewhere in the Navarran Pyrenees. 20 minutos
This article from Wildlife Extra is also interesting. New research suggests Cantabrian female brown bears do not hibernate while cubs are still young proves anecdotal evidence first recorded many centuries ago.
Tags: Camille the bear, Pyrenean bears
Posted in bears, Mammals, Navarra, Pyrenees | No Comments »
Monday, June 14th, 2010
The seven Iberian lynxes (four females and three males) released in December 2009 in Guadalmellato, Cordoba are breeding successfully. Three cubs have been born to one mother, and two other females are believed to be pregnant.
The seven animals were the first to be released from the lynx captive breeding programme with the aim of establishing new territories across Spain. In this first case, an area close to the main lynx stronghold of Andújar was chosen. To make their adaptation easier, supplementary food in the form of penned rabbits has been provided – the lynxes can get in, but the rabbit can’t get out. The animals have also been fitted with radio-trackers.
The biologists in charge of the project are delighted not only with the news of the cubs, but also because no lynxes have so far died – three to four were expected to do so as they succumbed to the ordeal of adapting to their new territory. One animal has also come into contact with lynxes from Andújar which bodes well that this small population can expand.
Photo of one of the Guadalmellato lynxes on its release: El Mundo
Tags: Cordoba, Guadalmellato, Iberian lynx in Cordoba
Posted in Andalucia, Iberian lynx, Mammals | No Comments »
Sunday, June 13th, 2010
The plan to reintroduce Iberian lynx in the wild is to continue, despite the serious setback posed by the outbreak of a renal disease amongst the captive animals, in a year when only nine cubs were born. The fact that the wild populations in Andalucia are increasingly strong (65 and 165 animals in Doñana and Sierra Morena in, respectively) and the overall success of the captive breeding programme (80 cubs born so far) bodes well for the future, as does the increasing Iberian nature of the programme with the involvement of Castilla-La Mancha, Extredura and Portugal. EFE
Posted in Andalucia, Iberian lynx, Mammals | No Comments »
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Seven wild European bison (bisonte in Spanish) have been released into a 20 hectare enclosure in Palencia as part of a long-term plan to possibly reintroduce the animal to the Iberian Peninsula after an absence of 900 years. Bisons were once common in the deciduous and pine forests of northern Spain as is shown by the wonderful cave paintings of Altamira, and they probably survived in Navarra until the 12th century when they were hunted to extinction. It is also speculated that bison undertook winter migrations from the north to the south of Spain, and that the ancient transhumance sheep paths followed these routes, though other studies suggest the bison was only ever present in the north (here).
The five females and two males brought from Poland do not yet form part of a real reintroduction project, but rather a captive breeding programme under the auspices of the World Conservation Union partly with the idea of stimulating the local economy through tourism in a depressed region. Bison watching, hunting, meat and their role in reducing the risk of forest fires by eating undergrowth have all been cited as possible beniefts. According to Fernando Morán, the vet in charge of the project, the WCU has chosen Spain because of the large areas of uninhabited land in comparison with other European countries. Some 3,000 European bison survive in semi-wild conditions in Poland and other Eastern European countries, where they are discouraged from migrating by artificial feeding. Numbers are kept down by selective culling. Wolves, which are present in Palencia, seem only occasionally take them.
As head of the Spanish state, King Juan Carlos did his bit for European bison conservation when he legally shot a bison in Poland in 2004.
Tags: Bison resintroduction in Spain, bisonetes en Palencia, Nature of Palencia, Spanish bisons, Wildlife of Palencia
Posted in Castilla y León, Mammals | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
The captive Iberian lynx breeding project has been dealt a serious blow with the expected death in the next year of ten Iberian lynxes from renal disease. Four animals have already died, and 40% of the captive population of 70 have the disease, which has no cure. Breeding pairs have been reduced from 27 to just 9, and so far only 2 cubs have been born, with only ten forecast for the season. Project head Astrid Vargas has affirmed that the deaths will not put a stop to the programme.
Público
Tags: Astrid Vargas, Diseases of Iberian lynx
Posted in Andalucia, Iberian lynx, Mammals | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
The largest surviving monk seal population in the world, at Cabo Blanco (between Western Sahara and Mauritania), has broken its modern record with 51 pups born in 2009. The breeding season began in May and the maximum number of births took place in August and September with 13 births each. Also, a new group of young females were identified this year as reproductive individuals, increasing the reproductive potential of the colony. Crónica Verde Blog
The conservation project is led by Spanish scientists. Spain sees the conservation of Cabo Blanco colony of monk seals a priority as the species was once common off its coasts. A small group of monk seals survived in Cabo de Gata, Almeria until the 1960s. In 2009, for the time in 50 years a Monk seal was spotted off coast of Mallorca.
The Cabo Blanco colony saw the birth in 2008 of 46 pups, practically the same as in 2006, and doubling those of previous years. The colony is now made up of 180? individuals of which some 50 are breeding females, demonstrating that it is finally beginning to recover from the mass epidemic caused by a toxic seaweed of the late 1990s which killed off 75% of the colony.
Distribution of monk seals. From The Monachus Guardian.
Tags: Cabo Blanco monk seal colony, Isla del Toro, Mallorca, Mauritania, Monachus monachus, monk seal
Posted in Mammals, Sea mammals of Spain | No Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
The Alpine Marmot is successfully spreading into the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees, and there may now be as many as 10,000 individuals in the region. (more…)
Tags: Alpine marmots, golden eagle, Marmites in the Pyrenees, Marmots in Spain, Marmots in the Pyrenees, Pre-Pyrenees guide, ptarmigan, Spanish marmot, valley of Otal
Posted in Catalonia, Mammals, Pyrenees | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Garfio, the Iberian lynx who was captured in 2003 and begat the first brood of lynx cubs to be bred in captivity, has died this week from a chronic renal infection at the age of ten. In all he sired 11 little lynxes. El País
Photo of Garfio in action from Lynxexsitu.es. Thanks to TP on the forum who I’ve paraphrased here.
Posted in Andalucia, Iberian lynx, Mammals | No Comments »
Radio interview on Canal Ser with Carlos Sanz, perhaps the biggest expert on wolves in Spain and livestock farmer Rodrigo Peñalosa, looking at both sides of the debate around wolves in Spain. 
