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The campaign to bring the Iberian wolf back to the Region of Murcia
A national conservation group is pushing for a reintroduction plan, but Murcia officials say the time isn't right
A national conservation group is calling on the Murcian regional government to look seriously at reintroducing the Iberian wolf, a species that disappeared from the Region in the early 20th century due to hunting, mining and the loss of natural habitat. Before this, the wolf made its home in parts of Yecla, Águilas and Moratalla.
The Association for the Conservation and Study of the Iberian Wolf (Ascel) submitted a formal request to the Region of Murcia's Environment Ministry in February, asking for feasibility studies and a habitat protection plan to be drawn up.
Regional law already states that a species classified as extinct must be the subject of a reintroduction feasibility study and Ascel is arguing that the government has a legal obligation to follow through on that. The group has been making similar moves in Catalonia and Andalucia, and recently won Supreme Court cases that forced the suspension of wolf hunting quotas in Asturias and Cantabria.
The comparison with the Iberian lynx is an obvious one. After a rocky start, the reintroduction programme in the Lorca highlands has been going really well, with a couple of litters of kittens born recently, which is a hugely encouraging sign for the species' recovery in the Region.
The regional government, however, isn't ready to take the same step with the wolf. According to officials, the nearest wolf populations are in the northern half of country, meaning there's very little ecological connectivity between those packs and Murcia, unlike the lynx habitats.
Introducing wolves in isolation, they argue, would create what they describe as a "genetic island," which goes against accepted scientific guidance for large carnivore reintroduction. For now, they say their conservation focus remains on the lynx and the marbled teal, and no wolf feasibility studies are planned in the short term.
Image: Biodiversidade
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