The Iberian Wolf Is Extinct In Spain’s Andalusia: Report

Relevance: GS3 - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment GS 1 - Salient features of world’s physical geography. Prelims

(Source: Down To Earth, 08/02/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, a report released by the Program of Actions for the Conservation of the Iberian Wolf in Andalusia under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development, Government of Andalucia, for 2020 noted that the Iberian Wolf has been extinct in Andalusia.
• A series of control tours, consisting of visits to public properties and forests, helped authorities come to the conclusion.

Iberian Wolf

• It is a subspecies of grey wolf that is native to the Iberian peninsula.
• Scientific name: Canis lupus signatus
• Origin: The subspecies differentiation may have developed at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Ages due to the isolation of the Iberian Peninsula.
• Characteristics:
  • Slighter frame than Eurasian wolves
  • White marks on the upper lips
  • Dark marks on the tail and front legs give it its subspecies name, signatus ("marked").
  • The Iberian wolf, like other types of gray wolf, lives in territorial and hierarchical packs led by a dominant breeding pair.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Least concern
  • CITES: Appendix II
• Threats:
  • Habitat loss and fragmentation due to anthropological pressure.
• Forest fires
  • Farmers and hunters pose a threat due to their economic interests, ignorance, and superstitions.
  • Lack of action by the competent authorities. Eg: lack of specific conservation plans.

Is it extinct?

The sampling efforts of the Program team detected no evidence of the wolf’s presence in Andalusia since 2016 or any evidence of a breeding pair since 2003.

Iberian Peninsula

• The Iberian Peninsula located in Southwestern Europe is the second-largest peninsula on the continent.
• It is part of the collection of peninsulas in South Europe - Iberian, Balkan, and Italian.
• Area: It encompasses an area of around 583,256 km2 which accounts for about 5.9% of Europe’s total area.
• Extent: It forms an irregular octagonal shape.
• It stretches from Punta de Tarifa (Andalusia) in the south to Punta de Estaca de Bares (Spain) in the north and Cabo da Roca (Portugal) in the west to Punta de Cap de Creus (Catalonia) in the east.
• Countries: Spain, Portugal, France, Andorra, and Gibraltar.
• Borders:
  • The Iberian Peninsula is separated from Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar and from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees mountain range.
  • It lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Climate: The region experiences two major climate types:
• Oceanic climate: It is characterized by cool summers and relatively even temperatures. It is dominant along the Atlantic coast.
• Mediterranean climate: Other regions experience varying levels of temperature and precipitation.
• Wildlife:
  • Iberian lynx (endangered), Chamois, migratory birds like the sparrowhawk, robin, starling, etc.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question. Consider the following pairs:

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) 1, 2, and 3

(b) 3 and 4

(c) 1 and 3

(d) 2 and 4

Question: Which of the following are correctly matched?

(a) Labrador peninsula - Russia

(b) Yucatan peninsula - Brazil

(c) Iberian peninsula - Spain

(d) Kamchatka peninsula - Turkey