LIVE from the Camino Wolf On Francés Today

[RJE]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

 

[kptorrahk]

I walked the Camino a few weeks ago and a French lady also talked about encountering a wolf in the forests between Portomarin and Palas de Rei before sunrise.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Oh. My. Goodness ! That would be an absolute dream come true for me. It's extremely seldom that I feel envious of anybody but right now believe me I am !

 

[henrythedog]

You have been extraordinarily lucky. Great pictures.

 

[K_Lynn]

WOW! Glad you had the opportunity to see this beautiful creature and everyone walked away safely!

 

[Bog526]

Beautiful yes however still a wild animal that can tear you open. Unusual that the wolf can that close.
Please don’t feed them, they will keep coming back with more. And if they keep coming back they will be killed because of the dangers to humans and children. My friend fed a wolf by hand and the last moment the wolf took the food and part of his hand. Please observe from a distance. Take care

 

[davejsy]

At least two of these photos are also in a FB post by someone called Ken, but maybe you are the same person @RJE or shared photos.

A healthy wild wolf would never get that close to people, they would be long gone before you'd ever even known they were there. It's a young wolf so maybe something untoward has happened to the parents who it would rely on for food. As @Bog526 says best to admire from a distance and certainly not feed it as a wolf that becomes accustomed to humans will either end up in the zoo or disappear by some other means.

 

[Amigos caminando]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

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Wow wow wow

 

[Mick0]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

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Nice!

 

[fallow]

I missed my turn off to Hontanas last July, too busy watching a Wolff loping down the road ahead of me!

 

[Makuluman]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

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Wow..... and a great close-up!

 

[mr potatohead]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

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That looks exactly like our old (now deceased) German shepherd/Alsatian.

 

[Bradypus]

A very short video of the wolf in an article on a local news website.

VÍDEO | Un lobo planta cara a varios peregrinos en el Camino de Santiago

Los avistamientos de lobos o perros salvajes en la comarca cada vez son más frecuentes. El último de ellos se produjo este miércoles, cuando uno de estos

www.elbierzodigital.com

 

[Blister Bill]

So you're not meant to dance with them then ?

 

[3ball]

At least two of these photos are also in a FB post by someone called Ken, but maybe you are the same person @RJE or shared photos.

A healthy wild wolf would never get that close to people, they would be long gone before you'd ever even known they were there. ...

I live among wolves on the edge of the BWCAW in Minnesota. Ely MN has the International Wolf Center and the Voyaguers Wolf Project (see Facebook for amazing information from them) does their year round studies nearby.
I have very frequent interactions with wolves. I enjoy their howling almost everynight when I go to bed.

In fact, they are very frequently quite close to humans though we do not see them. I have two trail cameras within 20 yards of my home and on average get 5 photos per day of wolves on my driveway or in the area where I access the lake. Sometimes I even notice them watching me and my dogs through my patio door. I also notice them when out and about camping or hunting in the area.

They are essentially no danger to humans in any way. I would not feed them, nor surprise them (which would be very difficult to do).

I would, though, be concerned about pets that might be with humans. That is unfortunately a different story.

 

[Corned Beef]

There is an recent article about wolves in India and this is the stand out comment about killing children and others. Makes you think twice about being near one.

Such attacks on humans are extremely rare and most involve wolves infected with rabies, a viral disease that affects the central nervous system. A rabid wolf will typically make multiple assaults without consuming the victims.

Uttar Pradesh: The child-killing wolves sparking panic in India

Since April, wolf attacks have terrorised villages near the Nepalese border, killing nine children.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[RJE]

At least two of these photos are also in a FB post by someone called Ken, but maybe you are the same person @RJE or shared photos.

A healthy wild wolf would never get that close to people, they would be long gone before you'd ever even known they were there. It's a young wolf so maybe something untoward has happened to the parents who it would rely on for food. As @Bog526 says best to admire from a distance and certainly not feed it as a wolf that becomes accustomed to humans will either end up in the zoo or disappear by some other means.

Yes, Ken’s wife shared with me. He took the pics from a distance. I was seated with this guy 3 feet from me. Frozen.

My sense was pilgrims had been feeding him since he didn’t fear humans and was nipping at backpacks.

 

[Pelegrin]

I am an old Spanish mountaineer and never saw one in the wild in my life.

 

[peregrina2000]

It even made the local news!

VÍDEO | Un lobo planta cara a varios peregrinos en el Camino de Santiago

Los avistamientos de lobos o perros salvajes en la comarca cada vez son más frecuentes. El último de ellos se produjo este miércoles, cuando uno de estos

www.elbierzodigital.com

 

[davejsy]

There is an recent article about wolves in India and this is the stand out comment about killing children and others. Makes you think twice about being near one.

Uttar Pradesh: The child-killing wolves sparking panic in India

Since April, wolf attacks have terrorised villages near the Nepalese border, killing nine children.

www.bbc.co.uk

A very isolated occurrence and certainly not something associated with wolves or canines in general. Currently, they think it is one individual wolf or wild dog that is responsible. We also have to remember before labeling a whole species as killers that humans are far more destructive and dangerous to each other than any wild animal

Where I go a lot to track wolves and bears near Riaño villagers villagers can spend their whole life there and never see a wolf despite being surrounded by them such is their generally elusive nature in Spain.

Unfortunately given the publicity I'd imagine this little wolf's days of freedom are now limited and that sadly is probably the best outcome before an accident happens which probably wouldn't even be the animal's fault.

The wolf in Spain as elsewhere is a divisive animal and any negative publicity is seized upon by those who are angry at it's current protected status in Spain after years of hunting it. I for one though feel the world is a better wilder place with them - even if you never see one.

 

[Pelegrin]

There was an article today in " La Voz de Galicia" about a real problem with wolves one km from O Pino ( Camino Frances). Wolves are killing a lot of cattle there.

 

[KariannNor]

I wish this thread could be cut now. So much wow-ing and "they kill"-ing. Please leave these creatures alone. It is NOT a good thing that you see them! Go to one of your heartbreaking zoos you might have if you need to. Leave nature alone and stop blame it!

 

[davejsy]

There was an article today in " La Voz de Galicia" about a real problem with wolves one km from O Pino ( Camino Frances). Wolves are killing a lot of cattle there.

Articles in Spanish press are always sensationalised one way or another. It is true there are always conflicts, but unfortunately much of the time it is worth cattle left unguarded which is no longer compatible with returning wildlife - but the solution they always want is to kill the wolves as opposed to adapt in a better way. In Le Culebra where wolves clung on after been wiped out across the rest of Spain they have hardly any problems with wolves as the traditional way of tending to their animals never truly died out. Le Culebra has one of the highest densities of wolves in all of Western Europe.

There is a much bigger problem with domestic dogs, but of course this does not sell papers.

 

[Pelegrin]

Articles in Spanish press are always sensationalised one way or another. It is true there are always conflicts, but unfortunately much of the time it is worth cattle left unguarded which is no longer compatible with returning wildlife - but the solution they always want is to kill the wolves as opposed to adapt in a better way. In Le Culebra where wolves clung on after been wiped out across the rest of Spain they have hardly any problems with wolves as the traditional way of tending to their animals never truly died out. Le Culebra has one of the highest densities of wolves in all of Western Europe.

There is a much bigger problem with domestic dogs, but of course this does not sell papers.

I am in favour of wolves. Sometimes there are similar news in La Voz but I never mentioned one here. In this ocasion was becase it happened only one km from O Pino ( on the C.. Frances near Santiago) and this is a forum about the camino.

 

[davejsy]

I am in favour of wolves. Sometimes there are similar news in La Voz but I never mentioned one here. In this ocasion was becase it happened only one km from O Pino ( on the C.. Frances near Santiago) and this is a forum about the camino.

Apologies @Pelegrin my post was in no way aimed at you. These headlines are a regularity for anyone who reads Spanish news so it would make no difference if they are posted or not. I was just trying to add a bit of context for anyone who might think Spain is becoming overrun with man-eating wolves!

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Well, if they did start snaking on Pilgrim’s it might lessen the hordes wanting to walk a little……

 

[JustOneGuy]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

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one of my two or three favorite creatures.

If you are interested, I suggest you read Beyond Words by Carlos Safina. One of the chapters is dedicated to the wolf, an amazing creature.

 

[JustOneGuy]

I am an old Spanish mountaineer and never saw one in the wild in my life.

I have encountered wolves in Italy several times while walking in Abruzzo and Umbria, two central Italian regions. Usually they were walking alone.

They are not like the wolves of North America, but smaller. But once I witnessed from a distance the awakening of a pack of wolves at dawn in the Abruzzo Natural Park. When they awaken, they perform a "magical" ceremony in which the rankings of the group are re-established, with howls in unison that literally stunned me, and submissive movements of the lower-ranking wolves to the higher-ranking wolves (I do not call them "alpha-males" because I have read that there is some misunderstanding about this).

I was a little scared (pack of wolves are actually dangerous). I was alone and it was below zero, but I will never forget the modulated "singing" of so many wolves.

Again, read "Beyond Words" by Carlos Safina.

What an amazing creature is the wolf...

 

[RJM]

Doubtful that a wolf would try and take on a group of humans unless it was rabid. I personally would have been more inclined to want to scare the wolf away by yelling, banging together trekking poles, blowing on whistles etc so as to avoid any further contacts with people. For the wolf's sake.

 

[JustOneGuy]

Doubtful that a wolf would try and take on a group of humans unless it was rabid. I personally would have been more inclined to want to scare the wolf away by yelling, banging together trekking poles, blowing on whistles etc so as to avoid any further contacts with people. For the wolf's sake.

I am inclined to concur with you. Wolves are among the few apex species in the food hierarchy that can attack prey much larger than themselves, and have unprecedented physical endurance.

Alone they are quite guarded, but a pack of hungry wolves can pose a great danger to a passing human.

In any case, it is never a good idea to accustom a wild animal to feeding on offered food (although this is probably the way they were domesticated long ago).

 

[CWBuff]

There was an article today in " La Voz de Galicia" about a real problem with wolves one km from O Pino ( Camino Frances). Wolves are killing a lot of cattle there.

I wish this thread could be cut now. So much wow-ing and "they kill"-ing. Please leave these creatures alone. It is NOT a good thing that you see them! Go to one of your heartbreaking zoos you might have if you need to. Leave nature alone and stop blame it!

Well.... they DO have to eat!!!! And that is the way of the Nature. People are killing lots of cattle too, should we shoot them.... oh wait... we DO DO that, sometimes for no reason at all.

Animals were here long before we were so yes leave them alone!

BTW my wife took a look at the photo and said that it's a wolf-dog

 

[davejsy]

Alone they are quite guarded, but a pack of hungry wolves can pose a great danger to a passing human.

There is no evidence for this statement whatsoever and you're probably a million times more likely to get killed by a randy cow than devoured by a pack of wolves.

 

[JustOneGuy]

There is no evidence for this statement whatsoever and you're probably a million times more likely to get killed by a randy cow than devoured by a pack of wolves.

The real problem is: is it a good idea to encourage wolves to come closer to the trails and feed them? Or is it better to keep them away (without hurting them, of course)?

One should also consider the very many people, often children, who suffer from cynophobia and who at the sight of a wolf might lose control of themselves, running away and making things worse.

 

[Pelegrin]

Well.... they DO have to eat!!!! And that is the way of the Nature. People are killing lots of cattle too, should we shoot them.... oh wait... we DO DO that, sometimes for no reason at all.

Animals were here long before we were so yes leave them alone!

BTW my wife took a look at the photo and said that it's a wolf-dog

I am not an English native speaker. Maybe the word " kill" is too strong for that case. But I thought that " hunt" was not suitable for the case of cattle.

 

[CWBuff]

I can understand the language problems. Please consider that even if "hunt" was suitable/applicable the ultimate outcome of hunt is a kill (i.e. I hunt and kill my prey).

 

[domigee]

We saw a wolf on the Sanabrés in 2015, had noticed his paw prints in the sand a few days ahead. My fellow pilgrims took a pic but only got its back as he was fleeing. He didn’t hang around!!!

 

[gemdrag]

This made for an exciting morning for me and a few pilgrims in the hills just before El Acebo today.

A Spanish lady took charge and had us sit down…not sure that was the right course of action, but it calmed him down until he moved on.

Nature is beautiful, but be mindful you are in nature.

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Wow, I'd heard there were some but have never encountered one , yet.

 

[Bradypus]

Another report of a sighting of a wolf near El Acebo on Facebook this afternoon.

Camino de Santiago All Routes | Met the wolf 1km up the hill from El Acebo. | Facebook

Met the wolf 1km up the hill from El Acebo.

www.facebook.com

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Can’t open it unfortunately

 

[Bradypus]

Can’t open it unfortunately

 

[CWBuff]

Another report of a sighting of a wolf near El Acebo on Facebook this afternoon.

Camino de Santiago All Routes | Met the wolf 1km up the hill from El Acebo. | Facebook

Met the wolf 1km up the hill from El Acebo.

www.facebook.com

looks like the same guy (or a girl.... Im not too versed in wolves' sex identification)

 

[Bradypus]

looks like the same guy (or a girl.... Im not too versed in wolves' sex identification)

Seems very likely. Very unusual for a wolf to approach people in this way. I fear that its days may be numbered if this continues.

 

[CWBuff]

May be its one of those stories when the animal needs help..... hope no harm comes to him\her; obviously there are no attacks so no "danger" (so far....)

 

[JustOneGuy]

this is sad: https://www.birdlife.org/news/2024/...ction-major-blow-to-science-and-biodiversity/

I do not know why, but when I look into the eyes of the wonderful animal in the photo, I cannot help but feel condemnation toward our species and our inability to coexist with nature.

If you have doubts, watch this too:

You can now understand why in an early post I ask to keep these animals away from us.

Because WE are dangerous.

 

[Kathor1]

I see that this thread is no longer a "Live on Camino" thread because @RJE has already arrived in Santiago. So: Politico has a number of graphics that illustrate some of the issues around the wolf population in Europe which I found interesting.

Where permanent wolf populations are (in 2012-2016; I think they have spread some more, for example into the Netherlands and Belgium). You can clearly see the concentration in the north-west part of Spain:


Livestock attacks by wolves in recent years in 19 EU countries:


Government payments to farmers as compensation for livestock damages due to attacks by wolves in the same 19 EU countries:
:

 

[CWBuff]

Livestock attacks by wolves in recent years in 19 EU countries:

WOW!
All European wolves have immigrated to Spain.... and as per origina post it is conceivable that they all slowly becoming Pilgrims on Camino!

You can now understand why in an early post I ask to keep these animals away from us.

Because WE are dangerous.

Quite some time ago on a different thread I quipped that "Human is the most dangerous animal on this planet" but that does steer the conversation into a murky grey zone so we should just leave it alone.

 

[Kathor1]

I forgot to add the link to the Politico article that has the graphs. It’s about plans to change the protection status of wolves from “Strictly protected” to “Protected”:

A wolf war showdown is looming

We crunched the numbers to prepare you for a bitter fall fight to strip protections from a surging wolf population.

www.politico.eu

 

[Pelegrin]

In Galicia there are Galician toponymy with Lobo ( wolf) like Castiñeira do Lobo, Fonte, Forca, Covas and Pouta do Lobo, Lobeira. And Germanic toponymy like Gandulfe, Tresulfe, Randulfe, Friolfe, Frexulfe.

 

[Kathor1]

WOW!
All European wolves have immigrated to Spain.... and as per origina post it is conceivable that they all slowly becoming Pilgrims on Camino!

Ok, that’s an attempt at making a joke … I am not sure how successful it is with readers of this thread … .

The article I’ve linked to starts with this sentence: “In 2000, Germany had one pack of wolves. By 2022, there were nearly 200.” In practical terms, wolves had been extinct in Germany for some 200 years. The same goes for most of Western Europe while wolves did not become extinct in Southern Europe and Eastern Europe.

I am not very knowledgeable about the situation in Spain but it may be somewhat similar: There are now wolves in areas where there have been none before. Which could be the reason why the OP’s post at the start of this thread is the first time ever on this forum where Camino Francés pilgrims have seen a wolf so close that they could take these photos.

 

[Kathor1]

In Galicia there are Galician toponymy with Lobo ( wolf) like Castiñeira do Lobo, Fonte, Forca, Covas and Pouta do Lobo, Lobeira. And Germanic toponymy like Gandulfe, Tresulfe, Randulfe, Friolfe, Frexulfe.

That's interesting. I guess, though, that the Germanic toponymic placenames do not refer to places where there were wolves but rather to places where a person with this name lived or owned the place? The endings -ulf, -olf or similar stand for "wolf" and can be found in numerous Nordic and Germanic male names.

 

[JustOneGuy]

I see that this thread is no longer a "Live on Camino" thread because @RJE has already arrived in Santiago. So: Politico has a number of graphics that illustrate some of the issues around the wolf population in Europe which I found interesting.

Where permanent wolf populations are (in 2012-2016; I think they have spread some more, for example into the Netherlands and Belgium). You can clearly see the concentration in the north-west part of Spain:
View attachment 178039

Livestock attacks by wolves in recent years in 19 EU countries:
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Government payments to farmers as compensation for livestock damages due to attacks by wolves in the same 19 EU countries:
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Do you know how "recent" are those "recent years"? I read the article at Politico you linked but I couldn't find the graphs plots there.

In this paper they report that

incident-based livestock damage data across 21 countries for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020, during which 39,262 wolf-caused incidents were reported from 470 administrative regions.

It's important to understand the severity of the problem.

 

[Pelegrin]

That's interesting. I guess, though, that the Germanic toponymic placenames do not refer to places where there were wolves but rather to places where a person with this name lived or owned the place? The endings -ulf, -olf or similar stand for "wolf" and can be found in numerous Nordic and Germanic male names.

Yes, but " ulfe" seems to be the plural of wolf and it is strange a person having a name with wolf in plural. F. ex. Friolfe and Frexulfe could mean free wolves. Anyway even assuming that this toponymy are people names reveals fascination of those people about the wolf. I am curious to know why there isn't toponymy like this in Spain out of Gallaecia. Where Suebi more fascinated about wolves than Visigoths? Or maybe the Visigoths spoke already Latin when they arrived in Spain.

 

[davejsy]

Spain and Italy were probably the only two places in Western Europe where a small population of wolves survived what was basically extermination everywhere else. This was mainly due to the rugged sparsely populated mountains areas, in Italy it was the Apennines and in Spain it was the Cantabrian mountain range and into Galicia (although a very small number survived into the early 2000's in the South in Sierra Morena but they are now extinct there).

The Italian population which are Grey Wolves was down to less than a hundred, and this is the population that has fed much of the newer populations in France etc since they became protected under the Bern Convention and EU Habitats Directive once everyone realised what we were doing to our wildlife.

The Spanish population cut-off from the other populations by the Pyrenees is a sub-species known as the Iberian Wolf (Canis Lupus Signatus) was probably down to 200-300. They now number about 2000, but have been stagnant at this level without really expanding their ranges which are concentrated to the NW Spain and whilst technically protected most are killed as soon as they step foot in Basque or La Rioja for instance. They only became protected from controlled hunting in 2020 I think, but there is a big push to remove the protections.

Many of the attacks attributed to wolves are false with farmers looking to get compensation for animals that have died of other causes, and quite often in Spain cases like this are exposed. Also there are certainly more attacks with the increased populations moving into areas where farmers are not used to dealing with them. But leaving domestic animals in mountains unguarded for weeks on end isn't what can be deemed responsible farming and change needs to happen instead of blaming the wolves (or bears in the Pyreness) and asking for them to be killed.

It's a tricky situation on both sides, but the current human strategy of killing everything we don't like or that makes our lives a bit difficult hasn't really worked. and anyone who has been lucky enough to see a wild wolf will tell you that they move something in your soul, something a lot of us have unfortunately long since lost in todays modern sanitised world.

 

[Kathor1]

Do you know how "recent" are those "recent years"? I read the article at Politico you linked but I couldn't find the graphs there.

I am not sure that I understand what you mean by not being able to find "the graphs" there. As to the data for "Livestock attacks by wolves in recent years in 19 EU countries" and the graph in my earlier post, the Politico article contains a link to the document where they pulled their data from. So I checked: The data come from the EU member states, actually 24 in total but not all of them provided detailed figures, and depending on the country the data refer to the year 2022 for the majority of countries but some countries provided data for the year 2021 and other countries for the year 2020 or even 2019 and one country for 2017. Hence summarised as "recent years" in the Politico article.

but " ulfe" seems to be the plural of wolf

I am not at all certain of that. Wölfe is the plural of Wolf in the modern German language but I would not conclude from this that it is the plural form in old Germanic languages or in placenames that went through orthographic changes over the centuries.

 

[Kathor1]

In general, I found a lot of the information found in this thread and then in other sources on the net useful to know but while we here on the forum can try to influence opinions in a small way we won't change much in the short term otherwise.

What is more useful to know: Where on the Camino Francés a Camino pilgrim might encounter wolves as close as shown in the video clip and on photos in this thread and what to do and not to do. Certainly not feed a wild animal or do anything to make it more "tame" but I am not holding my breath that this not happening.

 

[davejsy]

Where on the Camino Francés a Camino pilgrim might encounter wolves

Technically wolves are present in number from Burgos all the way to Santiago in terms of the CF.

as close as shown in the video clip and on photos in this thread

The recent video and photos are highly unusual behaviour for a wild wolf. It is likely this wolf is young and has been separated from it's pack and is unable to hunt wild prey itself (whether they were killed or they pushed this wolf out who knows). It is also likely given it's close proximity that people have been feeding it.

what to do and not to do

Nothing - in the highly unlikely event of a wolf being so close you just carry on as normal, don't run and don't turn your back until you feel safe. Same as you would do with a domestic dog you don't want to get friendly with.

 

[Pafayac]

Picture taken on the Salvador last summer.

 

[Kathor1]

this is sad: https://www.birdlife.org/news/2024/...ction-major-blow-to-science-and-biodiversity/

I am trying to refrain from commenting even more than I've already commented - not at all easy for me - but reading more than one article about this was interesting.

The linked article does not mention Spain or the fact that even when the status of Canis lupus is changed from "Strictly protected" to "Protected", i.e. when this name is moved from the list in Appendix II to the list in Appendix III in the relevant legislation, it won't change a thing in Spain.

Why? Because Spain made a reservation in 1986, i.e. they won an exception. Quote from the Bern Convention under the heading "Spain": A reservation is made concerning the fauna species Canis lupus, Sturnus unicolor, Lacerta Lepida and Vipera latasti, Carduelis-Carduelis, Carduelis Chloris, Carduelis Cannabina and Serinus Serinus, included in Appendix II as "Strictly protected fauna species", which will be considered by Spain as "Protected fauna species" enjoying the régime of protection provided for by the Convention for the species included in Appendix III.

It appears to me that the other countries now want what Spain already has.

 

[davejsy]

I am trying to refrain from commenting even more than I've already commented - not at all easy for me - but reading more than one article about this was interesting.

The linked article does not mention Spain or the fact that even when the status of Canis lupus is changed from "Strictly protected" to "Protected", i.e. when this name is moved from the list in Appendix II to the list in Appendix III in the relevant legislation, it won't change a thing in Spain.

Why? Because Spain made a reservation in 1986, i.e. they won an exception. Quote from the Bern Convention under the heading "Spain": A reservation is made concerning the fauna species Canis lupus, Sturnus unicolor, Lacerta Lepida and Vipera latasti, Carduelis-Carduelis, Carduelis Chloris, Carduelis Cannabina and Serinus Serinus, included in Appendix II as "Strictly protected fauna species", which will be considered by Spain as "Protected fauna species" enjoying the régime of protection provided for by the Convention for the species included in Appendix III.

It appears to me that the other countries now want what Spain already has.

Not quite correct (at least not for the last 4 years).

Because Spain argued their wolf population was in a "favourable" status at the time of the Bern Convention ruling over the EU wolf population, they were allowed to continue with controlled hunting and local authorities killing so called problem wolves, but only North of the Douro as they could in no way argue there was any viable population South of this.

Spain's wolves have never been in a "favourable" status in recent times and after many court battles (many by ASCEL) were finally added to LESPRE which is the Spanish Framework of Species Protection and given full protection and (legal) hunting had to stop, and they had the same protection as elsewhere in Europe. Hundreds are still killed illegally each year despite this.

The recent developments in the EU halls of power (only yesterday) suggest that the mood in the EU is changing, driven by the far right and farming lobby who are pushing back on all the environmental progress of the past decade because it's stifling their productivity and ultimately their profitability. If wolves do eventually get removed from the conservation lists then it will be done against all scientific data, the very same data that put them on the list.

We as a society are at a tipping point, with many now trying to reverse the environmental initiatives and ESG focused practices brought in over the past decade to try and stem the climate crisis and generally make the world a better and fairer place.

As an example Glencore one of the biggest FTSE companies recently reversed their decision to ditch their coal business inline with their ESG commitments because the CEO declared "cash is king" and most investors (who mostly happen to be the mega-rich) would rather maximise making money over the long-term survival of humans. We make the few rich at the expense of the majority.

The sad fact is we are still more interested in cash and GDP rather than what world will be left for our children (and any remaining wildlife).

 

[countycork]

This topic on ‘the wolf’ scared daylights outta me!! Hope they don’t become a regular on the Camino - would just freeze if I met one, so please pilgrims (as some suggested) just ignore Mr Wolf & keep going!

 

[Bradypus]

Another short video clip on Facebook of a very close encounter in the hills above Rabanal.

29K views · 513 reactions | Heute gesehen zwischen Rabanal und Molinaseca | By Ari | Facebook

Heute gesehen zwischen Rabanal und Molinaseca

www.facebook.com

 

[Anna Cameron]

Does rabies exist in Spain?
In all the posts above, I saw only one reference to the possibility that a wild animal (in this case, a wolf) might have rabies/be rabid. Now, I grew up in suburbia in North Texas in the 60's-70's and in those days, rabies truly still existed and there was no easy vaccine to protect folks if bitten. You could get it from a cute little squirrel in your back yard or a cat, dog, fox..... The treatment was crude and painful and not commonly successful unless started very quickly. I grew up fearful of rabies (just re-read To Kill a Mockingbird, to get an idea of the risk and the fear). I have been living in Australia for over 40 years, where very strict laws have largely protected the local fauna and the population from rabies, and I understand that there is now a vaccine against rabies which has reduced the toll in many developed countries (it is still a scourge in many places, though, eg Bali).
But, what is the current situation these days in Europe? I am genuinely interested to know.

 

[Kathor1]

Does rabies exist in Spain

The short answer is: terrestrial rabies is considered to be eradicated in Spain since 1978.

The best long answer about the current situation in Spain is probably on this website of the Spanish government:

Rabia

Información relativa a la enfermedad de la Rabia

www.mapa.gob.es

It contains some information about other European countries. I was surprised about the comment for Italy and Greece.

In general, cases detected in Western Europe are travellers returning from a journey who got infected abroad or illegally imported dogs that they bring back from their journey but that is fairly rare.

 

[Anna Cameron]

The short answer is: terrestrial rabies is considered to be eradicated in Spain since 1978.

The best long answer about the current situation in Spain is probably on this website of the Spanish government:

Rabia

Información relativa a la enfermedad de la Rabia

www.mapa.gob.es

Thank you! It is good to read that rabies is considered eradicated - I found it puzzling that no one else had mentioned it in any of the comments about the wolf. I am intrigued to realise how powerful some childhood fears can remain, after so many, many years. **I was also interested to read about the incidence in Italy and Greece (and I learned a new word: "murcielagos!").