246 eggs of loggerhead turtles (tortuga boba - Caretta caretta) have hatched in the last few days on a beach in Cabo de Gata, Almeria. The eggs were taken from Cabo Verde, where a third of the world’s population of Caretta caretta lives, and form part of a reintroduction programme of the Junta de Andalucía, CSIC and the Canarian goverment (Loggerhead turtles in Fuerteventura). They have been taken to a reintoriduction sent which will raise them for the first few months to reduce mortality rates. El Mundo
It will take at least 15 years to be able to begin to measure the success of the project when hopefully some of those turtles hatched will return to the same beach as adults. Small populations of loggerhead turtle in the Mediterranean exist in the Turkey and Greece.
800 Loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta - tortuga boba) eggs are to be buried today in La Playa de Cofete de Fuerteventura in an attempt to reintroduce the species in the Canary Islands. The eggs have been brought from the Cape Verde. 200 more are to be sent to the Centro de Recuperación de Especies in Taliarte, in Gran Canaria, and 400 to the Estación Biológica in Doñana, Andalucia. Loggerhead turtles disappeared from the Canary Islands some 300 years ago. It wil take at least 15 years to be able to begin to measure the success of the project when hopefully some of those turtles hatched will return to the same beach as adults. Terra
More on loggerhead turtles (Wikipedia - above photo) which notes that the genus name “Caretta” is a latinization of the French “caret”, meaning turtle, tortoise, or sea turtle. Small populations of loggerhead turtle in the Mediterranean exist in the Turkey and Greece.
I’m pleased to announce the first iberianatureforum sponsored wildlife project. The plan is to support the conservation of the endangered Southern Midwife toad (Alytes dickhilleni - above photo from sierradebaza.org.) The idea has arisen from a visit members of the forum made last month to the Zoo Botanico in Jerez de la Frontera, the best in Spain in terms of conservation of local species, and has been organised by joint forum-owner Clive whom I quote here.
The zoo is in the process or requesting permission to collect from the wild an endangered species of amphibian for captive breeding and release and we (The Forum) can help out with the project.
Alytes dickhilleni is a species of Midwife toad that only occurs in the Southern part of Spain hence its common name of “Betic / Southern Midwife Toad” after the “Baetic” mountain range in the Andalucía. (In Spanish it’s a Sapo partero bético).
The project needs some large glass terrariums (5) in order to house and breed the toads that cost (the terrariums) about 150 Euros each. In return for our help the Iberianature Forum will be named as sponsors and our collaboration will be mentioned in all the results returned from the project. (We will be famous at last!)
The community of iberianature has come a long way over the last year or so and we have all contributed to an excellent resource about the natural world of Iberia but this, for me at least, is an excellent opportunity for us as a group to help in a practical way some people who are really working hard to protect their environment.
If you like iberianature and you would like to contribute to this project please send me or Clive an email.
Our understanding of the reptile world is in a constant state of flux as advances in DNA techniques continue. The latest is the promotion of a species of skink on La Gomera to full species. The joint study by researchers from France, UK and Spain is published in the latest issue of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. They have baptised the new reptile Chalcides coeruleopunctatus, Lisa de Salvador in Spanish (Salvador’s or the Gomeran Skink in English), in honour of Alfredo Salvador, researcher at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid, who described it for the first time in 1975 El Mundo.
The La Palma Giant Lizard (Gallotia auaritae) has remarkably been rediscovered on the Island of La Palma. The photo of a male was taken by Canarian reptile expert José Antonio Mateo, who notes that it is probably an animal in dispersion, from a population some 500-1000m away. The task is now to find it. El Mundo
Wikipedia notes (written prior to this news) “Its decline started 2000 years ago with the arrival of humans on La Palma. It appears to have become extinct in the last 500 years. The main causes of extinction appear to have been introduced cats, consumption by people, and habitat destruction for agriculture. Although the species is believed to be extinct, there is a small chance that it could be rediscovered in a remote or inaccessible location. This happened with other giant lizards of the Canary Islands, like the El Hierro and La Gomera Giant Lizards (rediscovered 1974 and 1999, respectively); the somewhat smaller Tenerife Speckled Lizard was only discovered for the first time in 1996. ”
More here on the species from Wikipedia (English)
This young Montpellier snake eating a bird on a fence was sent to me a few month back by Robert Parker somewhere in Alicante. Note the telltale white stripes between eyes and along jaw. But what is it eating? Follow the forum thread and more pictures.
A young alligator (70 cm) was caught in Barcelona in the River Besòs yesterday. The reptile was spotted by a local naturalist doing a study on birds. Experts believe the mild temperatures on the Catalan coast and the abundant presence of swamp crayfish may allow alligators to survive the winter here. This is the second alligator to be caught in just over a year near Barcelona, after the larger alligator caught in a pool in Collserola. (El Pais)
After are a disastrous 2007, there’s some goods news for the critically endangered El Hierro Giant Lizard (lagarto gigante de El Hierro - Gallotia symonyi). ABC reports that three baby lizards have been born in captivity at the recovery centre in Valle del Golfo. Only 78 breeding lizards remain after storms of January 2007 killed some 182 lizards. Picked up on secret tenerife
Original story: 30/01/2007: Worst storms in El Hierro’s history with 500mm in 36 hours decimates population of highly endangered El Hierro Giant Lizard. Only 102 survive of world pop. of 282 have survived (El Pais) 31/1 WWF classify disaster as internationally important (WWF)
The attempts to save the Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi) from extinction have been bolstered by the successful breeding in captivity of the species. At most 1500 of these newts survive in a few fast flowing streams in Montseny in an area of 40km2, making them particularly vulnerable to fire and drought. So far just 7 larva have hatched in the breeding programme of the Centre de Recuperació de Fauna del Departament de Medi Ambient (El Periodico)
Photo of a Montseny brook newt, right, larva
Of all the amphibians in Europe , the Montseny brook newt has the most limited area of distribution and it is also one of the most endangered species on the continent. More on the Montseny brook newt
A hiker has survived a viper bite in La Pedriza, Madrid, which would make it a Lataste’s viper or snub-nosed viper. 3-4 people probably die a year from viper bites in Spain, although this figure may now be lower due to the expansion in rural health facilities and the fact that there aren’t as many people working in the countryside. Sobrevivir a una víbora El Pais
27/02/2006 I recently bought Anfibios y Reptiles de la Peninsula Iberica e Islas Baleares (Guias Verdes) by Toni Aragon Rebollo, 2006. 39 euros or thereabouts. This is a very well organised and clearly written guide. Before the field guide itself, there is an ample introduction on the status of herps in Spain and a fascinating section on their place in Spanish folklore, from which I’ve quickly translated this on lizards.
In the north of the Peninsula, it was believed that lizards were friends of men, while snakes were related to women. They told that lizards would leap at women during their period (Translator’s note: My mother-in-law has told me about this). Similarly in Seville , geckos were said to chase after women. There also stories of lizards climbing into women’s vaginas while they slept. In the southeast there is the belief that if you come across a lizard with two tails and you put it in a plate scattered with flour, it will draw the winning numbers in the lottery (two-tailed lizards occasionally occur when a new one is regrown without the old having been totally severed). Another belief related to lizards tails is that they are a cure warts. This belief should be combated as the loss of its tail can cause great harm.
There is also lots information on the folklore around individual species in the field guide part. On the Turkish gecko we have for example:
Murcia they are known as pelás. This comes from the “powers” they are said to have. It is thought that if you misfortunate enough for a gecko to fall on your head you will go bald as a coot. In some villages just the mere spit from a gecko is enough to leave you hairless”.
All no doubt true, although biologists claim that geckos can’t spit. Thoroughly recommended. Good drawings and photos too.
9-minute extract on the Short-toed eagle from the essential “El Hombre y la Tierra”, by Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. As you will see in full gruesome detail , Águila culebrera its Spanish name (snake eagle) is well chosen. And as De la Fuente puts it in his indomitable style “even the lynx, the prince of the predators of the Mediterranean forest, stands in awe at such a feat” Remarkable.
26/11/2006 150 new species are discovered every year in Spain
An interview with Mario GarcÃa ParÃs of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in today’s (El Pais) . I paraphrase.
“There are some 60,000 species of animals in Spain, of which some 40,000 are insects. And we are incapable of knowing how many are catalogued. A species is a group of animals which are genetically compatible. There are worms which look the same but are different species and frogs which are as similar as an egg to chestnut tree, but which can breed.
It is impossible to know how many species are still to be recorded. One knows when most of the biological wealth of a country has been recorded when the rate of discovery slows down. This does not seem to be likely in the short term in Spain. We’ve been discovering some 150 new species a year since the late 1970s. And this rate has continued unabated. Since 1978, 3,627 new species have been discovered in the Peninsula, with a further 1,417 in the Canaries at an almost constant rate of 150 a year. “In the distribution maps of species there are dark areas around Madrid, Barcelona and Las Hurdes, in Extremadura. The county of Las Hurdes appears because several people from the museum spend their holidays there”.
There are even big gaps in knowledge with groups such as amphibians despite the legions of amateur naturalists out and about recording them. “A year ago we discovered a new midwife toad which only lives in the fountains of villages. We called it Alytes obstetricans pertynas. “Pertinacious†because while most amphibians are becoming extinct, this one is resisting in human settlements”.
Spain because of its geographical position and the variety of its climate is particularly rich in biodiversity, but much of this being lost. “In the county you can’t hear anything anymore. Ten years ago you heard and saw lots of insects. Now they are spraying everything and all is quiet. When I look at my field notes from 15 years ago describing swarms of bugs I think I must have been exaggerating, but the truth is I was only describing what I saw. When we visit Morocco today we see animals everywhere, just as it was here years ago. If a Goya is burnt. It’s a national tragedy, because it cannot be replaced. The same is true for a species but nobody seems to care”. See also Montseny Brook Newt
02/10/2006 I had an interesting walk on Montserrat the other day, where my batteries unbelievably failed just as I had the ladder snake to the left full in my sights. By the time I’d replaced them it had slithered away in seach of rodents and quiet. The Iberian wall lizard on the right was far easier prey. More on reptiles in Spain
Montpellier snake by Stephen Daly. More great photos by him here below and on his site. As long as two metres, the Montpellier Snake is Spain’s largest snake and probably the commonest snake in the Mediterranean region and in Spain. This is despite the numerous deaths on the roads to which it is attracted in search of heat, and its persecution by man - it is seen as a threat to small game species and farm birds because of it size. On the contrary the Montpellier appears to be on the rise, as it easily adapts to humanised environs, which push out its competitor snake species. It is in theory one of the five venomous snakes in Spain , though the back position of its venom fangs means poison injection is unusual, and the latter reputedly weak. See also snakes in Spain quiz
This spectacular photo was sent to me by Clive and Sue who run guided walking tours in the Sierra de Grazalema . The wryneck lost the fight with the horseshoe whipsnake. It ate the chicks and the nest was abandoned. Some more great stuff from them in the next few days.
Interesting 30-minute radio discussion here from Canal Ser on wolves. Taking part are Carlos de Hita (naturalist and wolf sound recordist), Carlos Sanz (Spanish wolf expert), Rodrigo Peñalosa (cattle farmer affected by wolf attacks in the Sierra de Guadarrama and José Ángel Arranz (Castilla y León government), along with an interview with Andy Tucker (Nature Trek) on wolf tourism. Note: The images of wolves you'll see have nothing to do with the radio programme.
Steve is giving us all this week a basic education in dragonflies and damselflies. "Dragonflies spend a lot of time around water for a couple of reasons...
The first Iberian lynx are set to be transferred in 2010 to the new lynx breeding facilities in Zarza de la Granadilla, Extremadura, for their later release into the wild.
With the cold, the first of this year's cranes have arrived in the dehesas of Cáceres and Salamanca, and the lagoon of Gallocanta in Aragon. La Crónica Verde reminds of the Castillian saying:
"cuando las grullas van para Castilla, coge el hacha y haz astillas” When the cranes set off for Castilla, get your axe and start chopping firewood.
More on Wikipedia 
