Posts Tagged ‘Fapas’
Interview with Roberto Hartasánchez
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Interview with Roberto Hartasánchez, the president of FAPAS on Spanish National radio. An interesting ten minute overview of bears, the serious impact of the disappearance of bees, and the state of conservation of the Cantabrian Mountains in general. Listen here.
Latest news from Fapas
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Fapas have released their latest news bulletin with an interesting selection of news on carrions, vultures and bears. In the picture a bear tucks into a cow. Read
Pyrenean bear map
Friday, August 28th, 2009I thought this map from Fapas showing the latest bear numbers in the Pyrenees was interesting
Beehives help wildlife
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
A scientific study by FAPAS has shown that the presence of beehives increases the production of wild bilberries by 80% on which bears and capercaillies feed. Fasas
Bear cub photos
Friday, June 26th, 2009
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
+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.
Cantabrian brown bears and carrion
Thursday, June 19th, 2008The new digital camaras that Fapas have installed are paying their way. They’ve made a very informative PowerPoint slideshow of a young bear encountering a corpse of a cow (I think). On the first few visits, instead of tucking straight in as you might imagine, the bear concentrates on smelling around the corpse, eventually feeding on the maggots evolving in a hole probably pecked by ravens. Not until a month has passed does it tear apart the skin to reach the flesh that remains. Apparently, maggots and rotten meat provide more protein than fresh.
Valley of the Bears
Saturday, June 7th, 2008According to Fapas, the Trubia valley in Asturias is seeing a slow but sure increase of reproductive female Cantabrian brown bears, the species having almost disappeared completely from this area. In 2004 one female of breeding age was detected. Of the sixteen individual bears identified here in 2007, two were females with cubs. In the next few months it is hoped to confirm the existence of either two or three females that could have produced cubs this year, the first having been photographed this spring by Fapas with her one cub. If their expansion continues at this rate, it is hoped that by 2010 the optimum number of ten breeding females will have been reached leading Fapas to comment that the name of the Trubia valley should be given plural status, Valle de los Osos. The conservation organisation sees this as the first important step towards the subsequent joining together of the two separate Cantabrian brown bear populations, dispersal among Brown bears as a species being a slow process due to the philopatry exhibited by female cubs who choose territory close to their mother’s when they reach reproductive age themselves.
See the Cantabrian brown bear topic at Iberianature forum.
Dangers of ecologist fundamentalism for conservation
Saturday, April 19th, 2008Excellent article by Roberto Hartasánchez here at Fapas and published in this month’s Quercus on the dangers of ecologist fundamentalism for conservation in Spain. I’m on the road so no time for a summary, but it’s well worth a read.
Snare traps still a threat to Iberian bears
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008The Spanish Brown bear foundation, Fundación Oso Pardo, has released figures of the illegal snare traps its patrols have removed in the Cantabrian mountains. Although the numbers have declined since they started their patrols, the figures are still alarming and continue to be a threat to the bears’ survival. These lethal wire traps are set mostly to trap wild boar and deer that cause damage to crops, though some are laid just for trophies and meat. Of the 1,155 snares discovered, most were found in Asturias. In 2004 the total found amounted to 225 but 2007 saw the figure drop to 67. However, in the area of Ancares, on the borders of Lugo (Galicia), Asturias and León, 130 have been removed in the last 5 years by one of the foundation’s patrols and, in the same area, 63 snares were found in the days between Feb. 27th and the 1st of March this year. These figures are without taking into account the snares removed by Fapas who are also working in this conservation area. It is hoped that continued education and intensive searches will see figures drop further. Sadly, due to the obstacle of not being able to provide proof, most cases go unprosecuted.
According to the newspaper, La Voz de Galicia, there is hope among conservationists (and conservation-minded locals) that the bears will begin to recolonise parts of Galicia.
Comment on this article on the forum
Photo from Fapas
Posted by Lisa
Paca and Tola
Friday, November 23rd, 2007Paca and Tola are two female bears which were orphaned 1989, at the age of four months when a hunter killed their mother and took the two cubs. The cubs were rescued by Fapas and Seprona after a tip-off and now live in semi-captivity in a large mountainside enclosure. Now they are to be mothers.
Photo of Tola and additional research by Lisa of picos-accommodation
The Fundación Oso de Asturias plan to mate them with a another male bear used to captivity in spring 2008, when they come into heat after hibernation. (LNE) The problem is that there is currently no captive male Cantabrian bear, so a bear from another “group” is probably to be used. I use the term “group” as the extistence of Ursus arctos Cantabricus as a separate sub-species is under debate.
The two bears live in a 5000m2 mountainside enclosure and have become a popular tourist attraction and have played a very important role in raising environmental awareness about bears in Asturias. Watch them here . There are references to bears almost every week in the local press and people love talking about them. One has the impression that bears in general and Paca and Tola specifically are quasi-nationalist symbols in Asturias, and much loved…unlike wolves.
Most of the time you can’t see them as their hidden in the rocks, scrub and trees, but they come down at 12:00 am every day to eat. I saw both Paca and Tola taking a bath this August as we all watched on, sweltering outside their enclosuse. The enclosure is in the beautiful Concejo de Trubia. Paca at the end of an excellent cycle path which runs along an old mining railtrack, known as La Senda del Oso. The path (or rather network of paths) runs through tunnels, across bridges and through a spectacular gorge. Reasonably-priced cycle hire is available at each end. They’ve also got cycle with back seats for little kids which is what we used. More here
Read the forum thread on Paca and Tola here
