Protecting the Iberian Wolf

A complex issue of coexistence

Until the 19^th century, wolves were present across the Iberian Peninsula, with their historic range estimated at 440,000 km². However, like many parts of Europe, across the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries, wolves were intensely persecuted. They reached their historic nadir in the 1950s–70s in Italy and Spain. Recently, wolves have made a recovery in Italy and have expanded into neighbouring countries, but the Iberian wolf population shows a different trend, facing continual range contractions. Wolves now only occur in 21% of Spain: Currently, the majority of the Iberian wolf population, estimated at around 2,800 individuals, can be found in the northern regions of Castilla y Léon, Galicia and Asturias, with approximately 400 packs remaining. In southern Spain, the Iberian wolf has been declared extinct, with no confirmed presence since 2020; moreover the remaining northwestern population is isolated from other European populations. Ecologically, there is significant scope for wolves to recover more of their historic range, with studies indicating that over 300,000 km² of the Iberian Peninsula still provides viable habitat. There is scope for the Iberian population of wolves to form functional, connected meta-populations with other European wolf populations, which would help to create climate-resilient landscapes, restoring biodiversity and safeguarding forest and grassland ecosystems.

But in our changing world, the issue is not an ecological one; it is social and political. Practically, wolf management in the Iberian Peninsula is fragmented and complex; Spain is divided into 17 regions, and while there are national laws on education, public health and environmental management, regional governments have independence and the responsibility to make their own regulations. Moreover, the wolf has become deeply politicised, symbolised and scapegoated as the enemy of agricultural interests, which are experiencing significant changes to fiscal and social policy in the context of a rapidly changing and oftentimes, deteriorating, economic climate.

In March 2025, Spain’s parliament voted to lift the nationwide ban on wolf hunting, which followed the European Commission’s decision to downgrade the wolf at the EU-level under the Bern Convention – the international treaty that protects them. At The European Nature Trust, we believe this amendment is short-sighted; that hunting of wolves will have little material impact to livestock predation; and that coexistence, rather than scientifically unjustified lethal population control, is the only way of supporting livestock interests into the long-term.