The current presence of the wolf in northwestern Spain is the result of an evolution that began to be scientifically documented in the mid-19th century. At that time, the wolf had a wide presence throughout the Peninsula, mainly in mountain areas, such as the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees, in the north, or the Central System and Sierra Morena, further south.
Since then, the wolf population has been progressively reduced, until at the beginning of the 21st century its population was limited to the northwestern part of Spain (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the northern part of Castilla y León). In recent years, the wolf, however, is recovering territories and expanding due to factors such as a greater availability of wild prey and greater protection of the species.
The tendency for the expansion of the wolf to new territories towards the east and south of the Peninsula is a consequence of the fact that the wolf is reaching its carrying capacity in some of the territories in the northwest of the peninsula where the species has been maintained in recent decades, as interpreted by Carlos Nores, a retired doctor of Biology at the University of Oviedo, who has just participated in a recent conference on the wolf held in Lugo.
“The wolf is close to the limit of carrying capacity in some territories. The possibility of their census growing in those territories is small, the only possibility is the expansion towards areas where the wolf had disappeared”, says Nores.
“The wolf is close to the carrying capacity limit in some territories. The possibility that their number will increase there is small, the option they have is to expand to new areas” (Carlos Nores)
Evolution of the presence of the wolf and some explanations
The appearance of Pascual Madoz’s dictionary, in the mid-19th century, included one of the first population studies of the wolf. In that first period, around the middle of the 19th century, “a disappearance of the wolf from certain areas of the southern peninsula, mainly towards the Mediterranean” began to be perceived, a phenomenon that was interpreted “as a regression of the species,” explains Carlos Nores.
“I thought it was interesting to see how many municipalities the presence of wolves coincided with the presence of some wild ungulate,” reflects Nores. In this sense, “in 1840 a single species of ungulates was recorded -mainly wild boar or roe deer- in two thirds of the municipalities where the wolf was present. As a result of this, in the northwest zone the wolf had to prey on domestic cattle, which was the most accessible, ”he details.
A century later, the situation was even worse for the wolf. Considering the data from 1950, “there were only wild prey in a third of the wolf territory; that is, in the middle of the 20th century the situation for this species was even more complicated than in previous decades, its feeding being through domestic cattle almost mandatory”, explains Carlos Nores.
The scarce availability of wild prey is one of the factors that explain the regression experienced by the wolf, together with others such as the hunting of the species, the elimination of new litters of wolves, the use of poisons or the loss of habitats where they live. reproduced.
At present, there are again favorable winds for the species, since in recent decades the availability of wild prey has increased and, in addition, the legal protection of the wolf has increased: “Now in 93% of the municipalities where the wolf lives there is some species of wild ungulate” -stresses Carlos Nores-, who also points out that, however, the wolf continues to prey on domestic livestock.
The biologist points out that the wolf is reaching the carrying capacity of the territory in some areas of the northwest of the peninsula, which explains the expansion that the species began towards other areas, such as the south of the Duero or the easternmost areas of the Central System (Madrid ).
Finally, Nores concluded by stating the social issue: “To address the situation of the wolf, ecologists and ranchers have to dialogue; but it is one thing to say it and another thing to know how to do it”.
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