Oso pardo

[nick]

Enjoyed that Lisa and thanks for the plug

You made the importance of bee pollination very clear to me. Here's what she says everybody:

For the trees to provide fruit, however, they need to be pollinated. This is where Fapas’ Colmenas y Osos (Beehives and Bears) comes in.
Bees have been disappearing on a global scale (see pages 16 and 17), and the mountains of Cantabria are sadly no exception.
Research has shown the importance of bee pollination in a bear’s habitat and Fapas has been buying or renting land in prime ursine territory for the installation of beehives. Some are left unprotected so the bears can access the honey, while others are protected by traditional stone structures known locally as cortinas.

[lisa]

From IberiaNature blog;

The Fundación Oso Pardo has nearly finished a study to find a communication corridor for the two, at present, separated bear populations. The study has identified problem areas and will propose at least four possible crossing points. It won’t be easy however as the zone to be used, through the Huerna Valley and over the Pajares mountain pass, is criss-crossed by roads and railways, including a dual carriageway and high-speed train linking Asturias with the Spanish central plains, which will have to be bridged. Also in the way are the odd ski resort or two. Deforestation is proving to be another stumbling block in the bears’ passage so they will also be recommending the replanting of trees to provide cover for the animals during their crossing. The study will be handed to the regional governments of Asturias and Castilla and León later this year.

Why environmental impact studies didn't include this at the time of construction of the roads, I don't know.

[lisa]

Looks like the cub will be released next month after having christened the centre for the reintroduction of Capercaillie in Sobrescobio, Asturias.

[lisa]

From the blog;



A team of specialists was mustered on Wednesday to track a bear that had been caught in a snare trap in the Páramo del Síl, Bierzo area of León. The bear had managed to detach the wire snare from a tree where it had been illegally laid but escaped with it still around its middle. The regional governments of Castilla and León, Asturias and Cantabria are collaborating with experts from the Fundación Oso Pardo, the Cabárceno wildlife park and the University of León to try to anaesthetise the injured animal and treat its abdominal wounds although their efforts are being hampered by problems in getting close enough to succesfully dart the bear. The dark colouring of its fur leads the experts to believe the bear to be a male, and definitely young. It has been observed feeding but the team are concerned that the wounds could become infected. The digiscoped image of the bear shows how the snare is embedded around its abdomen, in the area of its kidneys, and highlights the thin state of the animal, who has been suffering now for a week since it was first spotted. The fine for causing the death of a bear ranges from €200,000 - €2,000,000.

They say they're worried about disturbing the bear by getting too close. I would have thought that's the least of its problems.

[Technopat]

Lisa,
Any update?
Re. your

They say they're worried about disturbing the bear by getting too close. I would have thought that's the least of its problems.

Unbelievable! The way that wire is constricting what must be vital organs and/or chaffing the skin to produce life-threatening infections.

As for the sharpshooters... I know that in the old days dart guns were limited by their range, but surely in this day and age... Maybe Charles or Arvak can give us the lowdown (Sp. anyone?) on that?

Technopat

[lisa]

Apparently they had another failed attempt today. It must be nerve-wracking for them, knowing how it must be suffering, but they reckon the way he was feeding that he's pretty tough.....

[lucy]

El Periodico reports that in Vall d’Aran, the north-west corner of Catalunya, people are beginning to adapt to living with bears.  The number of sheep killed by bears has been cut drastically (10 compared to 18 last year) by the simple solution of grouping herds together and hiring a shepherd to look after them.  The 10 dead sheep belong to herders who haven’t joined the new scheme.
The next problem on the agenda is how to protect bee hives.

http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=539087&idseccio_PK=1021&h=

[lisa]

I hope they sort out an efficient payment method for damages. Fapas are blaming the setting of snares on the slowness of CyL in paying bee keepers for damages by bears to hives.

[lisa]

While Guillermo Palomero of the Fundación Oso Pardo thinks the snares are more likely to be set for Wild boar and Roe deer by farmers trying to protect their crops or to bag a trophy. So far this year the Fundación has removed 153 traps in the western part of the Cordillera Cantábrica alone.

[lisa]

The Fundación Oso Pardo project (mentioned earlier on this page) to connect the two Cantabrian bear populations is to receive the financial backing they were hoping for from the EU's LIFE+ programme - 1.1 million euros. Here's the best map I've found from elmundo.es

[lisa]

I forgot to say that all the latest figures are sticking with 130 individuals and that there's still no news on the injured bear.

[lisa]

Just an update on the cub. Experts are meeting today to decide her future. Fapas have come up with a brilliant idea  of releasing her into the eastern population. Only problem there, apart from the political ramifications, is the amount of poison still being left around in that part of the mountains so I should think they'll face some opposition to that brainwave.

[lisa]

The experts have recommended the cub be released in Somiedo although the final decision will be made by the Asturian environmental department.

[lisa]

The Fundación Oso Pardo and Seprona have apprehended another person in the act of checking his snares. They found a total of 17, not far from where the young bear with the trap caught around his abdomen is still suffering, if not dead already.

[nick]

The Aranese authorities have captured some excellent images of the bear Hvala with her 19-month old cub. It is unsual for a “cub” (no longer so small) to stay with its mother for so long.

See story and video here at El País

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/mejores/imagenes/osos/libertad/Pirineo/catalan/elpepusoc/20081001elpepusoc_12/Tes

[nick]

Bad news. Young bear run over and killed in Leon

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Muere/atropellado/oso/pardo/Leon/elpepusoc/20081028elpepusoc_5/Tes

Just read it. Will do a summary later

[nick]

Here's the story as it stands:

http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2008/10/bear-run-over-and-killed-in-leon/

A young brown bear has been run over and killed in Leon in El Bierzo. This is the first confirmed case of bear being killed by a vehicle (a lorry) in Spain. The incident took place along the A16 dual carriageway (autovia). Experts from the Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) are trying to find where the bear entered the autovia as it is fenced. According to the Fundación Oso Pardo, although bears are not common in El Bierzo, it an area of dispersion from the nearby Alto Sil which supports a small but rising breeding population of brown bears. This bear formed part of the much smaller eastern population of Cantabrian bears with at most 30 individuals and so the loss of one is of some concern.

[lisa]

Terrible news. If the bears continue their, very slow, expansion I wonder if this kind of news will become more common. One thing Nick, this young male is probably from the Alto Sil in the west. The accident took place near the borders of León with Asturias and Galicia. It's looks likely that he was heading from León towards Galicia.
Perhaps FOP should be looking at facilitating more crossings on the A6 as well as the AP-66. I'm going to a talk given by Guillermo Palomero this morning.

[lisa]

The Fundación Oso Pardo have officially launched their latest book, "Osas. El comportamiento de las osas y sus crias en la Cordillera Cantábrica". The book is accompanied by an amazing dvd of bear cubs playing and, more darkly, the natural practice of infanticide. Contact Fop or the Fundación Biodiversidad (who financed the project) for your free copy!

[lisa]

The bear cub was released back into the wild on Tuesday. The movements of her family (mother and two sisters) have been monitored closely and the release was made in the same vicinity. As nothing like this has ever happened before in the Cantabrian mountains, the outcome is far from certain although Fapas are hopeful that she'll be accepted back into the family! My money's with them. They recount the story of bear cubs orphaned in the Pyrenees and later adopted by another female bear. She's been tagged (probably on her ear) and is carrying two radio-transmitters which they say will be lost when she moults next spring. Good luck Villarina!





While I'm at it and thinking about radio-transmitters/collars, I find it unbelievable that technology hasn't reached the stage where a microchip hasn't yet been developed to track an animal's movements. Although it doesn't look as if this cub is wearing a dirty great collar. Does anyone know exactly what this device may be that sheds with her coat?
I'm also reminded to post this sad reflection by Francisco (Pancho) Purroy on the 20th anniversary of the killing of El Rubio. It was originally published in the Diario de León but has mysteriously disappeared. Luckily, Fapas had copied it;

"BURRO AMENAZADO - PANCHO PURROY   

  SE CUMPLEN veinte años de la muerte de El Rubio , oso derribado a postazos por Lorenzo Fernández en el monte de Brañosera (Palencia), aunque según el protagonista, en defensa propia.

Recuerdo la penosa escena del cadáver del plantígrado arrojado al vertedero del pueblo, rodeado de basuras y somieres desvencijados. Las pasé canutas para cargarlo en el Land Rover y traerlo a León para la autopsia. El cráneo y la piel del oso estaban en la nevera de un cazador del pueblo, donde me sorprendió desagradablemente el orgullo con el que relataban la montería, como en el Salvaje Oeste.

Conocíamos a El Rubio por su corpulencia y vistoso pelaje, tanto por avistamientos en Riaño y Fuentes Carrionas, como, unos meses antes, cuando se peleó con Salsero , el viejo macho provisto de radioemisor que Tony Clevenger capturó y liberó en el bosque de Hormas, al luchar la pareja de galanes por copular con una osa rojiza en el valle del Naranco (Llánaves de la Reina).

A pesar de la intencionalidad de los disparos, el matador de El Rubio fue absuelto, pero el caso sirvió de experiencia para endurecer los delitos contra especies amenazadas que, entonces, solo se consideraban infracciones de caza. Hoy, con la figura del delito ecológico, un hecho similar terminaría con el protagonista en la cárcel. Parece que el montero que espera en puesto al jabalí no aprende la actitud ante la entrada de un oso, consistente en vocearle y apartarse, sobre todo si estás en una ruta de huída obligada.

El atropello de un cazador en el valle de Arán, por la osa Hvala , liberada desde Eslovenia en los Pirineos, saldado con unos rasponazos de zarpas en pantorrilla y brazo, ha desatado la histeria. El síndico del valle aranés solicita a la Generalitat el abatimiento de la fiera y de todos sus congéneres, aseguran que por su peligrosidad hacia los vecinos. Una treintena de personas han sido mordidas allí este año por perros y se han producido varios heridos en accidentes de caza. No importa, el cabronazo es el pobre oso."