The appearance of wild boars infected with African swine flu in Catalonia has revealed an uncomfortable reality. A large part of our country’s ecosystems are unbalancedusually, due to the lack of large predators to control it.
The situation of the Iberian wolf, a predator capable of hunting wild boar, is particularly dramatic. It is estimated that in two years the wild boar population in Spain It went from half a million copies to 2.4 million. But the Iberian wolf is stagnating.
During the 2012-2014 census, 297 herds were recorded, during the 2021-2024 census, presented last summer, 333 were counted. “That in 10 years there will be a few dozen additional herds is very little, “The menu is practically the same as back then.”.
This is what explains Isabel Salado, biologist and researcher at the Doñana Biological Station who works on the conservation of the Iberian wolf. Salado says that In Germany, the wolf has disappeared, but in 20 years they managed to establish 200 herds.
He explains that the wolf population is concentrated in the northwest of the peninsula, which experienced a decline in the 20th century, reaching a minimum in the 1970s, and now it is increasing timidly. “In fact, in Catalonia this has not been established for 100 years,” says Salado.
However, it is known that in the 19th century the wolf lived in Catalonia and the Pyrenees region. If it is reestablished there, as well as in other places like southern Spain, the food chain would recover an important piece that would allow maintain a greater balance of populations.
Catalonia is a fundamental enclave since It is in contact with the border with the rest of Europe. In addition to a few, Salado argues that there is little genetic diversity among Spanish wolves, that is, they are very inbred, which is bad for their survival.
“At present, to our knowledge, there are a single breeding pack of alpine wolves in Catalonia“explains Salado, who adds that it is very good that new species of wolves enter so that they mix with ours and increase the genetic variety.
Without this great predator, wild boars found in Spain a great opportunity to breed out of control. Although other factors also contributed to the success of his species and others like deer and other related animals.
Ecological imbalance
Is the lack of wolves the consequence of the return of African swine fever on Spanish wild boars? “I wouldn’t say much, but of course is one of the factors that facilitated it,” comments Rocío Tarjuelo, researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN).
“The more animals there are in a square, the more contact they have with each other and the more easily the disease is transmitted, Tarjuelo continues. “Today, hunting by humans is the main cause of wild boar mortality, but that is not enough.”
Tarjuelo explains that, although it can be useful, hunting is a leisure activity for humans and, in this case where it is necessary to control the wild boar population, you should hunt with a plan, in a more surgical manner, so to speak.
“We must let the authorities work with the scientists because “Now it won’t do any good to just release the wolves,” Tarjuelo said. What he asks is that this crisis serves to raise awareness of the importance of wolf packs.
Salado and Tarjuelo agree that the Iberian wolf was used as a political weapon. In 2021 it was classified as a protected species and last March it was again not protected, although they claim that There was no reason to do it.
“Several autonomous communities eliminate specimens when wolf populations remain unstable,” explains Salado. “For a herd to reproduce They must be established, they must have resources… “They don’t have as much ease as wild boars.”
In other words, while the wild boar can reproduce uncontrollably if the conditions are right, the wolf regulates itself more. It is not a popular species because sometimes can attack livestock and some groups require intense control over it.
But wolf hunting is complex. “You never know which wolf you kill, you can eliminate the alpha male or the alpha female and break the bonds of the pack. This can even lead to the feared attacks on livestock,” says Tarjuelo.
Large predators like wolves or bears often hunt the simplest prey. That is, babies and sick animals. “They know which animals are sick and the most helpless. This reduces the risk of having wild animals with diseases that can transmit them to pets,” Salado said.
“To the Iberian wolf “We make it very difficult for them” Tarjuelo said. “Current figures do not indicate that it can be hunted without endangering its survival. In Spain there are other predators, such as the lynx or the fox, but they cannot hunt prey as large as the wild boar.”
Salado and Tarjuelo say it was not only the low wolf population that triggered the wild boar population, but also the depopulation of rural areas. the scrub area has expanded, where they find their natural habitat.
Tarjuelo also explains that the wild boar is a type of ungulate that is “very bold” and that it easily approaches populations. “Of course, they are omnivorous and They are attracted to our food scraps in the trash or in the food we leave for the cats,” says Salado.
The appearance of a disease is one of the most serious consequences that the destabilization of an ecosystem can have, but not the only one. Both researchers emphasize the need for Spain to take the healing of its natural ecosystems more seriously.