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In a move that has sparked both rejoice and controversy, Spain has banned the hunting of Iberian wolves in the country’s rural north. Spain’s Environment Ministry made the decision to halt the killing of these apex predators in order to allow the species’ population to continue to recover.
Once driven to the brink of extinction, Iberian wolves have made a slow and difficult comeback. Until the 1970’s wolves were legally deemed “pest animals” in Spain, and bounties were paid for their slaughter with poison, trapping, and other painful killing methods. Grown wolves and pups alike were killed by the masses until regulations were put in place to prevent the animals from reaching extinction. Still, less than 2,000 individual wolves are estimated to exist in Spain today, with their conservation status currently listed as “vulnerable”. The vast majority of Spain’s wolves reside in the rural North, where conflicts are high and every day is a battle for survival.