The Government of Castilla y León does not protect its bears
April 04, 2009
Roberto Hartasánchez Martínez - President of FAPAS
In opposition to what it is ascertained by the government of Castilal y León, the brown bear population in the east zone of the Cantabrian mountain range is suffering a continuous process of extinction in this region.
To hide this information, recently the government of Castilla y León has offered global data of the Cantabrian mountain range where most of the bears are out of Castilla y León and where there exists a remarkable increase of the brown bear population in regions as Asturias.
Since the moment when it started the Program for the Recovery of the Brown Bear in Castilla y León, the disappearance of breeding females has been continuous. Firstly they disappeared from the territory of Mampodre, and during the last years it was confirmed the almost complete disappearance of bears ´reproduction in the Hunting Reserve of Riaño. In this important territory the brown bear lived there without difficulties, until the Government of Castilla y León began to carry out hunting management models that allowed to build hundreds of kilometres of paths in the best preserved places for the reproduction of bears
The one and only breeding population of brown bear in Castilla y León is currently in the Natural Reserve of Fuentes Carrionas and Fuente Cobre Montaña Palentina. The evolution of the brown bear´s breeding population of this natural reserve, which is at the same time a regional hunting reserve cannot be more disheartening.
As a reference it can be taken into account the year 89, with 2 breeding female bears, while in the year 2008, there was only one breeding female bear. After 18 years of implementation of the Program for the Recovery of the Brown Bear in the region of Castilla y León, the failure of the conservation programs is more than evident, which has been technically confirmed thanks to the works for the track of this species carried out annually, especially the tracking of the female bears with cubs in the east zone of the Cantabrian Mountain Range.
These tracking works could even place the brown bear population in an extinction situation even more critical, as it has been evidenced that the existence of cubs´ slaughters is one of the most important causes of death toll of the cubs born every year. The Scientifics working in the tracking of the Cantabrian brown bear population have evidenced that these cub´s deaths are caused by males to get the females in a position to breed again.
For this reason, brown bear females included in population census, when they reproduce in the following year, can be included in the population census again which leads to mistakes in the determination of the real number of breeding female brown bears existing in a territory, as these are calculated adding the total number of breeding female brown bears during a two years period.
During years, the Government of Castilla y León has avoided to carry out in the brown bear territories the works implementing procedures for the tracking of bears used in other territories, (radio tracking, picture tracking, etc.) avoiding the possibility to contrast with the data provided constantly by persons in charge of the environment, as it has taken place recently with the information provided by Vice chairman of Environment matters of Castilla y León, María Jesús Ruiz, when she showed the assessment of the Programme for the Recovery of the Brown Bear in Castilla y León that surprisingly and disgracefully highlights a «recovery of the species ».
Regrettably, the government of Castilla y León tries to hide the true data that if they were known, it would be crystal clear and without doubts to the public opinion that after so many years of research and millions invested, the conservation of the brown bear in León y Palencia has been a smokescreen for the final objective of a strategy to wipe out this species.
There exists less doubts about the fact that behind this strategy implemented by the Government of Castilla y León, which offers a manipulated image of the preservation of the brown bear in the territories of León and Palencia, it is hidden the true strategy to use these brown bear zones for their speculative interests, using indiscriminate hunting for the most wished transformation of the bear ecosystems in touristic infrastructure.http://www.eldiariomontanes.es