Whilst the Invernadeiro national park, in the Ourense province in Galicia, is well known for its range of animals, such as wolves and genets, it has been a century and a half since the last brown bear was spotted in this area. The film company Zeitun filming their new documentary, Montaña ou Morte (Mountain or Death), set up cameras in an isolated alley, where their cameras captured a brown bear crossing the region. The production company stated: “The bear, a male ages between three and five, is the first to be filmed in the area and probably the first to have crossed through the region in the past 150 years.”

The footage can be seen below.

The brown bear spotted is said to be between the ages of three and five. Local wildlife rangers predicted that the bear came from the Sierra del Caurel mountains, south from the park. The Sierra del Caurel mountain range has a large brown bear population.

Rocardo Prieto Rochas and Tomas Perez Hernandez have said that years have been spent trying to create an environment which is suitable for the brown bear. This recent sighting has raised their hopes for the possibility of a home and return of the rare species which has been listed as a protected species since 1973 – hunting them results in a €300,000 fine. In attempts to stabilize the population, brown bears have been brought in from Slovenia in order to breed.

Bibliography

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/03/brown-bear-spotted-in-north-west-spain-for-first-time-in-150-years-galicia

(2)https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2020/05/04/watch-spanish-national-park-has-first-visit-from-a-brown-bear-in-150-years/

(3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=UB3MYgKA-C8&feature=emb_title