The Iberian wolf.

[Lábaru]

God of our old ancestors, beautiful animal, let's put videos and pictures of this beautiful predator, in danger of extinction, like us.

http://www.zoosantillanadelmar.com/galerias/upload/u0_633397126323513750_26-11-03_125.jpg

http://josemacurso.iespana.es/Lobo.jpg

http://news.university.ie.edu/files/2009/12/lobo1.jpg


http://news.university.ie.edu/files/ie-files/CARTEL-EXPOSICION-Amigo-Lobo-Segovia-thumb-200x294.jpg

http://news.university.ie.edu/files/2009/12/lobo3.jpg

http://www.dicyt.com/data/70/2970.jpg



http://manuelsosa.com/Mamiferos/source/image/el_ultimo_lobo.jpg



Retrato del lobo "Kirke" que hoy permanece cautivo para siempre en el centro "La Cañada Real".
El ocaso se cierne sobre las desforestadas cumbres presagiando la definitiva desaparicion de la
especie. El lobo, en primer plano y fatigado de huir parece pedir clemencia pero sin perder su orgullo natural.
Hoy se sigue poniendo precio a su cabeza, víctima del gobierno, escopeteros y algunos "científicos"
ávidos por engrosar su curriculum.

[Lábaru]

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/23872186.jpg




http://www.kalipedia.com/kalipediamedia/cienciasnaturales/media/200704/18/ecologia/20070418klpcnaecl_481.Ies.SCO.jpg

http://blogs.cope.es/sindiosnohayesperanza/files/2009/05/lobo_iberico.jpg

http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp217/kian999/lobo-iberico.jpg

http://elviajero.elpais.com/recorte/20050129elpviavje_5/XLCO/Ies/20050129elpviavje_5.jpg


http://manuelsosa.com/Mamiferos/source/image/lobos_la_manada.jpg


Lobos ibericos.- Cima del "La Maliciosa"(Guadarrama)

[Lábaru]

In honor of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente.

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[Eldritch]

So how endangered are these animals exactly? Wikipedia did not have any details.

[Murphy]

You guys still have wolves? Pansies :D!

[Lábaru]

So how endangered are these animals exactly? Wikipedia did not have any details.

In the same way as in the rest of Europe, hunters and destruction of safe areas, not food because of the expanding man, and the peasants have always hated the wolf and kill him where they are.

[Lábaru]

You guys still have wolves? Pansies :D!

Of course we still have some wolves and we hope to keep them.

[Don]

You guys still have wolves? Pansies :D!

We are the homeland of the Hombre Lobo, or the known as "werewolf" in the anglosaxon culture, a myth from ancient times in the western europe an specifically strong in castille and northern spain, that has many examples from ancient times, one of them the known and incredible story of Romasanta, the last Hombre Lobo.

I visited some of the woods that saw him "transforming" and devouring his victims and the jail from where he scaped misteriously.

Believe it or not, the soundtrack of the cold nights in these huge forests and its isolated pueblos of the northwestern Spain is the lament of this ancient being, as ever was.

[Lábaru]

So how endangered are these animals exactly? Wikipedia did not have any details.

Sorry, I did not understand the question correctly.


En estos momentos, a falta de un censo actualizado (el último es de finales de 1980), se le estima una población de unos 2.000 ejemplares.

In my bad english is "it is estimated that the population is about 2000 iberian wolves, the census date of 1980, is outdated."


Source: http://www.fapas.es/el_lobo_sem.htm

http://www.loboiberico.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45:7investigaci-conservacie-las-poblaciones-ibcas-de-lobos&Itemid=56

P.S Thanks Osweo :)

[Eldritch]

Okay, thanks CL.

A population of 2,000 is not critical actually. Besides if I'm not mistaken the population seems to be growing?

[Lábaru]

Okay, thanks CL.

A population of 2,000 is not critical actually. Besides if I'm not mistaken the population seems to be growing?


El número total de ejemplares de Canis lupus signatus que se pueden encontrar en España varía según las fuentes. El último censo fiable data de 1988, e indicaba la existencia de 1.500 a 2.000 individuos. En la actualidad la población puede estimarse en aproximadamente 1.500 ejemplares, distribuidos prácticamente en el cuadrante noroccidental de la Península.

1988----> 1500-2000 wolves depending on the source.

2005-2010 -----> 1500 Wolves, distributed mainly in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Source: http://www.faunaiberica.org/?page=lobo-iberico

In Portugal there are about 300 iberian wolves.

I think they're very few and that any illness or plague can eliminate this number, of course is an animal currently protected by Spanish law.

[Albion]

The Iberian subspecies needs protecting, once it is gone there is no bringing it back.
In Britain our wolves died out a few centuries ago - farmers and hunters killed them. They were the same species which would have been found across most of Western Europe.
Some wolves exist in captivity here now but I don't think they'll be reintroduced any time soon. A shame really, the deer population is out of control without them. Hunters can't control the population.

[gold_fenix]

an animal of mystic beauty, a shame that humany see as bad those who is bad they, specially here

[Damião de Góis]

Their distribution:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/IberianWolf-Map.jpg/706px-IberianWolf-Map.jpg.png

[Catrau]

fd6M9MPkTAA

:)

[Piparskeggr]

Interesting, wolves are very complex creatures and are part of a healthy food chain.

Unfortunately, when the territories of two apex predators overlap, conflict will ensue if there is not enough prey to sustain both...or, in the case of the wolf's homonid competitors, a realization that the competition MIGHT take food we may need.

I support efforts over here to maintain the wolf as a viable member of the array of life on this land. Where the populations are healthy, I also support very carefully managed hunting of them.

[Arsen_]

In Armenia wolves do a lot of harm to villagers slaughtering cattle, sheep, dogs etc and can be dangerous for people especially in winter. By the way the wolves have a very nasty habit to kill at once much more sheep than they are able to eat and that is a disaster for farmers. And even just wounded by wolf and survived sheep is no longer of use and should be killed and buried.

In this video results of wolves attack of mountain village in Armenia and that is very common in wintertime.

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That's why villagers and hunters shoot any wolf they see and Armenian government gives them money, about 250$ per every killed wolf.

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By the way not only wolves but also bears attack and terrorize Armenian villages.

In this video bear attacked mountain village and simple villagers not even hunters had to kill the dangerous animal.

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[Riki]

Of course we still have some wolves and we hope to keep them.

Portugal brings back rare guard dogs to tackle wolves.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58241000/jpg/_58241278_goats.jpg

For centuries, guard dogs worked alongside livestock farmers in the mountains of Portugal to protect their animals from the Iberian wolf.

But the dogs fell out of favour when shooting and poisoning came to be seen as a quick and easy method of controlling the wolves at the turn of the 20th century. Now that wolves are protected under Portuguese law, some of the country's oldest dog breeds are being used to help struggling farmers co-exist with the predators.

Portuguese wolf conservation organisation Grupo Lobo is encouraging the farmers to turn back the clock and work with the rare dogs, which fiercely protect the flocks under their care and chase off attacking wolves.


The Iberian wolf is now fully protected by Portuguese law
Since 1988 there has been a ban on killing or harming wolves. Nevertheless, the wolves remain under constant threat, often from desperate farmers resorting to desperate means.

Some 300 Iberian wolves (Canis lupus signatus - a slightly smaller subspecies of the European grey wolf) survive in the northern and central highlands of Portugal.

"We are encouraging farmers to use traditional livestock guarding dogs once again, not only to cut down on livestock attacks which will help farmers tolerate the wolf more, but also to bring these traditional Portuguese dog breeds back from the brink," explains Silvia Ribeiro, a biologist with the conservation project.

Dog breeds such as the Cao de Castro Laboreiro, Cao da Serra de Estrela and Cao de Gado Transmontano were highly valued in the past for their protective instinct and innate ability to bond strongly with the animals under their care.

"Their behaviour is quite unlike that of herding dogs. It is part of their character and breeding to bond with and protect their flock fiercely," Ms Ribeiro says. "They are always actively on the look-out, sniffing for signs of trouble and watching for livestock in distress.


A Cao de Castro Laboreiro guarding dog protects its flock
She says that if under attack, the dogs will stand between the flock and the wolf, barking and chasing the wolf away. Their sense of smell is so powerful they can even distinguish between the goats of their own flock and another.

For livestock farmers such as Alfredo Goncalves, who farms 450 goats on the edge of Peneda-Geres national park, the project is proving effective.




"Sometimes, when the flock is grazing and small groups stray and wolves attack, we can lose 10 or more animals”

Alfredo Goncalves
Goat farmer
"I lose about 80 goats per year to wolves," he says.

"Government inspectors come and evaluate any kills and we are paid for our lost livestock but often it can take one to two years and that is a long time to wait, especially in this economic climate."

Mr Goncalves says he is happy to live alongside the wolves but their attacks have a serious impact on farmers who earn very little.

His small monthly income of approximately 500 euros (£415, $658) depends largely on selling the goats' kids for meat.

To help cut down on wolf attacks, Grupo Lobo gave him a two-month-old Castro Laboreiro dog called Tija 18 months ago.

Farmers participating in the project are given a free dog but sign a strict contract, agreeing to its training, how it is cared for and used, and submit to regular research and monitoring by Grupo Lobo.

So far, 300 dogs have been placed with 170 livestock breeders.

Tija now lives with Alfredo's goats in a compound at night and stays with the flock while grazing in the mountains each day. His breed comes from a village north of the national park and was once commonly used in the area but is now very rare.

The dogs bond so strongly with the flock under their care that biologists at Grupo Lobo speak of female dogs that have abandoned their own puppies to suckle new-born goats.

A surprisingly gentle and friendly dog, Tija is clearly valued by Alfredo who has recently asked the conservationists to provide him with a second guard dog.


Tija waits patiently to take part in a working breeds’ dog show
"In each wolf attack, we usually lose one or two goats," he says.

"Sometimes, when the flock is grazing and small groups stray and wolves attack, we can lose 10 or more animals. It is devastating. But since the arrival of Tija, goat killings are down by a quarter."

To provide full protection for a flock of 500 animals, three or four guarding dogs are needed and some farmers have been reluctant to take on the new dogs and all the costs and effort involved.

"It hasn't been plain sailing getting farmers on board," said Ms Ribeiro. "They are still having to adapt to the Iberian wolf as a protected species."

After hundreds of years of it being viewed as a pest, that's a difficult mindset to conquer, she concedes.

[HispaniaSagrada]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VumjGEzbuE

[Mn The Loki TA Son]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSuKXeC347qKbBntfFatZTCqoVv2G4lH HjDWYOxi-yGULCF0XWN
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fVJJxYkogCA/S9nV-vKdsfI/AAAAAAAABFI/B-ea_MJvyGU/s1600/lobo+iberico.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lUEqvxT6MEM/Ubmd6iSiadI/AAAAAAAABEg/_IMs7x5ZfPk/s1600/Lobo+Iberico+2.jpg
Lobo Iberico