Extracciones de lobos en Campoo y Polaciones en Cantabria
El Gobierno de Cantabria has started the extraction of wolves in the region, specifically in the areas of Campoo and Polaciones, based on the current Management Plan after the species was removed from the LESPRE (List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime) on April 2nd.
The Minister of Rural Development, María Jesús Susinos, confirmed on Tuesday in statements to the media the beginning of the extractions by Natural Environment agents.
Extractions have begun in the Campoo-Los Valles areas, where the Government has set a target of 10 specimens to be extracted, and in the Polaciones area, in the Nansa region, where extractions are set at five.
It is important to note that the Cantabrian Government’s resolution for these extractions also includes five in the Saja region, another five in Besaya, another five in Pas-Pisueña, four in Liébana, and two in the Asón-Miera area.
In addition, to reach the authorized 41 extractions, three more specimens will be taken in municipalities included in zone 2 – with less stable wolf presence – and two more in municipalities in zone 3 – without wolf presence or sporadic presence.
Although Susinos confirmed the start of these extractions, she did not specify how many have been carried out out of the 41 planned based on the regional resolution, which establishes a quota of 20% of the estimated specimens in the autonomous community, where there are 23 packs and over 200 wolves.
The Minister of Livestock also stated that the Cantabrian Government will not turn the wolf extractions into a «circus,» conducting them in accordance with «legality» and supported by scientific and technical reports, and therefore will not disclose the specimens culled but will simply notify the Ministry of Ecological Transition, as is their «obligation.»
«We are acting within the law. Our farmers need us to act,» Susinos emphasized, ensuring that Cantabria will follow «the roadmap we set from the beginning,» which is to proceed with the extraction of specimens.
To this end, she defended that the regional Government is «acting with total transparency, legality, with our Management Plan in force since 2019, reactivated in full since April 2nd, including the extractions.»
She reiterated that the regional Government does not want to turn the extractions into a «circus» and will notify MITECO as the extractions are carried out.
She also stressed that wolf extractions in Cantabria are done «out of absolute necessity» because «our farmers can’t take it anymore» and are based on «scientific and technical studies and real data.»
In this regard, she recalled that in 2024, over 3,200 animals in Cantabria died from wolf attacks, «certified» deaths resulting from over 2,700 attacks by wolf specimens.
«I want to remind you that these are real data: in Cantabria, we have a minimum of 23 wolf packs. We have over 200 wolves throughout our community, even attacking and killing animals on the coast,» she added, emphasizing that wolves «occupy over 80% of the community, covering more than 4,000 square kilometers, and that cannot continue.»
