The wolf was considered extinct in Catalonia in 1929 with the capture of the last native specimen in Horta de Sant Joan (Terra Alta). At the beginning of 2004, the Department of the Environment confirmed the existence of a specimen of this species in the Cadí area, which would have arrived from populations established in the south of France (Sierra de Madres) following migrations from Italy (Apennines). ). Some evidence, among which were complaints from ranchers, pointed to the possibility that the first arrivals in Catalonia of wolves of the subspecies Canis lupus italicus occurred in 1997.
The Generalitat indicates that officially, from the year 2000 to 2022, there is evidence of the presence of wolves in Catalan territory each year, and in this period “20 specimens have been genetically identified, 18 males and 2 females. None have been detected to this day no reproduction.”
“For years, exhaustive monitoring has been carried out on the few specimens that live in Catalonia. In 2022, 87 signs of presence were collected, of which 20 were signs in which samples of individuals could be collected for genetic analysis,” indicates the Generalitat in the balance published on the website of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.
The genetic results allowed the presence of 4 individuals to be genetically identified in 2022. These data, combined with the rest of the evidence (phototrapping), indicate that in 2022 5 or 6 different wolves were detected.
The Generalitat’s website on the internet where the official information on the presence of wolves in Catalonia is collected indicates verbatim (accessed at 12:00 on October 30) that “During the year 2022, the presence of wolves was detected in :
– Moianès-Bages.
– Ripollès-France (a specimen that could currently be dead, since it was lame during 2022).
– Alta Ribagorça, with shared distribution with Huesca
– Alt Urgell-Solsonès-Berguedà.
– Upper Empordà-France.
– Pallars Sobirà, an example that could be different from Alta Ribagorça or Alt Urgell.
The Generalitat indicates that, “of these locations, it is considered that the presence is stable in the Ripollès area and in the Alt Urgell-Solsonès-Berguedà area since it has been detected for two consecutive winters in the area”.
The report of the Program for the Prevention of Damage Caused by the Wolf in Livestock in Catalonia: 2023 includes some cases of “indications” of the presence of the wolf in other areas of Catalonia that do not appear on the official page of the Generalitat indicated above. Thus, in the balance of this damage prevention program it is stated: “Specific signs have also been detected in Alt Empordà, Pallars Sobirà and Barcelonès.” The report does not offer more data on these cases, although they are indicated with the heading “Zones of wolf presence 2020-2022” in a graph that is included in this same report, formed by Forestal Catalana SA, a company contracted to monitor the issue, based on data from Agents Rurals and the Fauna and Flora Service of the Generalitat.
Information collected by El Periódico (October 27) explains that this sighting of a wolf in Barcelona has been included in the book Grans Mamífers de Catalunya i Andorra, by Jordi Ruiz Olmo and David Camps (Lynx Edicions).
Sources from the Rural Agents body, currently dependent on the Department of the Interior of the Generalitat, have confirmed to La Vanguardia that in March 2022 they received information from technicians from the Serralada de Marina park (dependent on the Barcelona Provincial Council) about the capturing images of a wolf in one of the automatic cameras installed in this protected area, specifically in the municipality of Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Barcelonès). The Rural Agents, in charge of monitoring this species throughout Catalonia, gave credibility to the sighting of the wolf in this area near Barcelona and followed up on the case but did not locate any more evidence or genetic samples.
The Rural Agents consider it possible that the case of Santa Coloma de Gramenet corresponded to a specific incursion or movement of the wolf that has been known for years in the Moianès region.
This graph for the 2020-2022 period does not appear (accessed at 12:00 on October 30) on the official page of the Generalitat on wolf monitoring in Catalonia, which indicates an update dated October 29, 2023. On the other hand, similar maps referring to previous periods do appear on this website:
On October 25, the Department of Climate Action presented the creation of a working group on the wolf, with the participation of representatives from the livestock, environmental and expert sectors. This working group will be informed and will provide proposals regarding the current situation and “the possible presence of more specimens in Catalonia.” The presentation note of this group indicated that “at the moment, only two solitary females have been detected in Catalonia in the last twenty years and there is no evidence of reproduction.”
The objective of the working group is to improve coexistence between the wolf and local populations and minimize the associated conflicts that may arise from a possible reproductive presence of the wolf and increases in specimens in Catalonia.
Another objective is to “establish relationships between all social actors related to this issue”, especially agricultural and livestock professional organizations and the environmental third sector. The note from the Generalitat indicated that “this year 2023, for now, only one damage caused by the wolf has been confirmed, in the Moianès region, where the Rural Agents have confirmed that it has already been in the area for about two years.”
