More good news! Park wardens from the Natural Park Fuentes Carrionas y Fuente Cobre-Montaña Palentina (probably the longest named of all Spain's protected areas) and rangers from the Fundación Oso Pardo have discovered
a new reproductive female bear in the Palencian region of the Eastern bear population. With only 30 or so individuals, this population is in critically dire straits with, at the last count, only two breeding females. The new finding ups the total by a third. In 2008 three cubs were born to the two females but only one survived, one having been lost to infanticide and the other dying by unknown causes. This latest discovery of another female and her two cubs of this year is therefore great news and raises hope for the bears' future.....and just in time for Christmas.
Over the past 20 years, Teresa Farino has compiled a 90-page report (A4) which includes lists of all the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies and vascular plants ever recorded in the Picos de Europa, plus summaries of each of these groups and an 8-page introduction to the wildlife of these mountains. If you would like to purchase a printed copy, the price is €17.50, excluding postage & packaging. An electronic copy is €11.
