Hi Simon, just to set the record straight on this one (I think you are referring to the the famous Cadi wolf)
It did not arrive from Italy but DNA tests have shown that it is genetically Italian in origin, forming part of an expansion over a number generations out from the Apennines. The Apennine population began to expand in several directions from the early 1990's. It moved north into the Italian and Swiss Alps; north-east into the French Alps and Lyon, and east towards the Pyrenees, reaching the Maritime Alps near Nice by 1996, Saboya by 1998. An individual was detected between Areja and French Cerdenya by August 1998 in the Madres Massif, just to the north of Canigó, and finally by 2004 into the Cadí range.
The Cadi wolf paired up with a female dog which was shot by wardens to prevent hybrids being born. As far as I know it is currently alone. There may be as many as four lone wolves, all male, in the Catalan Pyrenees which have made their way from French Cerdanya. However, there are grounds for some pessimism as the French population is under serious pressure from hunting and so individuals are only arriving in dribs and drabs.
Note: The last Catalan wolf was shot in Terra Alta in the south of the Principality in 1929 (1935?), though the animal is thought to have disappeared from the Sierra de Cadí more than 100 years ago.
http://www.iberianature.com/material/wolf.html#cataloniahttp://www.iberianature.com/mammals/wolves/And see also Avui article at start of this thread:
http://www.iberianatureforum.com/index.php?topic=455.0
