FOR the first time in over 100 years, a wolf has been spotted in the Vall de Boí (Lleida).

A hidden camera set up by Rural Agents in Llida has captured, for the first time in more than a century, images of a wolf in Aigüestortes National Park.

The snapshot was taken at the end of February thanks to a motion-activated camera set up by Rural Agents in Catalunya to survey wildlife, specifically to detect the presence of bears in the Pyrenees.

The sighting of a wolf in the Alta Ribagorza in Aragonese has recently been confirmed and experts are now studying whether the image belongs to the same specimen or to a different one.

According to members of the Department of the Environment of the Generalitat, DNA samples are being sought throughout the Vall de Boí, in the High Pyrenees, in order to determine the origin of the animal.

As part of the wildlife monitoring that the #AgentsRurals do at #PNAiguestortes we photographed a wolf in the region of Alta Ribagorça.

The snapshot was taken in February and we are looking for genetic samples in the area in order to identify the specimen.”

Agents Rurals (@agentsruralscat) March 27, 2021

The photograph was taken as part of Rural Agents’ ongoing wildlife monitoring in the natural park the very same month Spain awarded the Iberian wolf protected status.

The ruling, passed in February, means that wolf hunting is now illegal throughout Spain.

Spain is home to an estimated 1,500-2,000 Iberian wolves, with 90% in the northern regions of Castilla y Leon, Asturias and Galicia where it is believed that, until now, up to 400 wolves were killed annually.

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