Above: Iberian Wolf (Picture from http://defensaloboiberico.org
Canis Lupus Signatus, the Iberian Wolf, It is a subspecies of wolf endemic from the North of Spain. Lookt at it well, in its uniqueness! 🙁 Almost extinct once, populations recovered, though it still remains to be vulnerable and endangered. In the 50´s and 60´s Francoist Government tried to wipe it out and almost succeeded, a few packs saved the species from extinction and it slowly recovered. Still, despite knowing our past mistake, our Spanish Government still allows the hunting down of a percentage of them each year, not adding the constant “poaching”… when are we going to learn?. Honestly when someone asks me about my political inclinations I’ve been voting for the animals party since ages, because they still do not have representation. Isn’t this a beautiful creature? Well, look at him well, because some time from now it might not be… If we see the number of species gone the last 200 years, it gives me chills of terror
I confess sometimes I watch on youtube footage of already extinct animals.. it´s like I don’t want to forget… when you see the Thylacine moving in film, you almost feel like it might be still somewhere, yet it is not… It is not, EXTINCTION means GONE, FOREVER… even cloning back extinct animals in the near future, would not be the exact thing that we lost. And once than, they can say “what a pity” but there is no undo button for extinction.
HOW SELFISH WE ARE AS A SPECIES… wild animals belong in the forest, we hunt them down as if they were an unwanted molestation, animals do belong to Nature, it´s us plaguing it. We have destroyed our environment (and keep on doing it while our blinded race to the point of no return draws to a fatal conclusion). But we still treat a few thousands animals as “plagues” when millions of us fill the Earth with garbaga. If I meet a wild boar, I hike regularly and I have read how to make precautions, I don´t blame the animal, I try my best, in respect to cross our paths in peace (one of the most beautiful experience in my recent hikes was to stumble with a sounder of boar in the mist)… but first option for many, let´s kill it, let´s hunt it, as scientists, we have ways to treat catch and release them with treatments so they are less fertile. There is no need to get rid of them by hunting or killing, it could be done ANOTHER WAY. More let´s get trained about what to do and don´t if we find a wild animal… an teach respect to all creatures, and find SOLUTIONS that don´t imply torturing, killing, hunting and destroying endangered species like the Iberian Wolf is. Aren´t you so smart and clever HUMAN? Don´t you say that something merciful is HUMANE in your language (such a lying concept)… Look at these eyes, don’t look away.
Status: VULNERABLE