Laurence Dollimore
WILD bears in Spain are suffering from malnutrition after a very dry summer and poor fruit harvest.
Images captured in the Cantabrian mountains showed some bears were extremely thin and showing symptoms of cachexia, a wasting disease.
FAPAS – the Fund for the Protection of Wild Animals – said they are ‘extremely concerned’ by their condition.
“Climatic conditions has caused complications for the bears this year, altering the natural life cycles that are so important to the survival of the bears,” said a statement from FAPAS.
“A very dry summer has led to a poor and late harvest in fruits such as cherries and wild berries, which the bears rely on.”
The naturally shy creatures have now been forced to leave their isolated valleys where they usually thrive to forage in human-populated areas.
FAPAS said it is why there have been more reports of damaged bee hives, because the hungry bears are seeking out honey.
If they are not sufficiently fattened up before winter, when they hibernate, they may not survive.
Surely this is easy to resolve for very little money but is the will there, same as the beheaded bison situation.
Hungry bears will forage on ‘private property’, likely in land controlled by ganaderos. Ganaderos will use this as an excuse to kill the animal even though it has done little or no damage. And there will be pressure to put down weaker animals with the false logic that ‘the land can’t sustain them, so we should get rid of them.’
We are waiting to see what the response will be to the hungary javali that have started foraging on all the binned restaurant leftovers in Oviedo.
Stuart is right: there is little will and less money to protect wildlife, and private attempts are met with hostility and sabotage by neighbors and statements such as “That’s for the government officicials to do.” You can’t expect political ‘sheep’ to protect wild animals.
I agree 100% with chas. Sad but true.