Dimitris Kouimtsidis
A TOWN hall in the Basque Country has authorised the hunting of an Iberian wolf, which they believe is responsible for attacks on livestock in the Gibijo mountains.
A petition was started from local farmers in Alava in order to exterminate the carnivore which was responsible for killing their animals.
In total, the mammal has been blamed for the deaths of 131 animals, mostly sheep, since May last year.
The hunt is only allowed until February 14 and can only be conducted by authorised personnel who have to be waiting in an area for the animal to appear.
In Alava there is no settled wolf population and the ones that reach the region are loners who have wandered into the area.
These creatures (Canis lupus signatus) are part of a settled Iberian northwestern population, which is estimated to be around 240 packs.
It is estimated that only 1% of that population reaches the Alava territory.
Andres Illana from the Grupo Lobo de Euskadi said: “All wolves that enter are annihilated.”
They can’t get through the Basque Country and because of this they’re being cut from their “only chance of survival, which is to read the rest of Europe and end this isolation they have suffered for decades,” said Illana.
He continues: “That will only occur through the Pyrenees but that can’t happen if the Basques are blocking the way.”
It is legal to hunt wolves in Galicia, Cantabria and Castilla y León.
