The wolf continues to have an "enormous" and "complex" social and symbolic burden, so much so that, unfortunately, the opinions and positions of all sectors become radical and do not make an effort to rationalize the issue from a rigorous and understanding both the problems that the presence of this species can cause and the real possibilities of minimizing the damage. "In the 21st century, the wolf needs more science, more knowledge."
They are context phrases that are included in the section dedicated to the wolf in Large mammals of Catalonia and Andorra. Distribution, biology, ecology and conservation (Lynx Nature Box, 2023), a large-format book (591 folio-sized pages, weighing more than 3 kilos), exceptional scientific quality and great informative value, edited and coordinated by Jordi Ruiz-Olmo and David Fields.
The section of this encyclopedic book ("much more than an atlas") dedicated to the wolf has been prepared by Gabriel Lampreabe, Jordi Ruiz-Olmo and Santiago Palazón Miñano, three of the experts who best know the history and present of this species in Catalonia. This chapter occupies 12 pages of the book, honoring two of the objectives set by its editors and writers: "an exercise in transparency" prepared with a "vocation for public service."
These aspects are reflected in the wolf chapter not only with the reflections mentioned at the beginning (understanding of the affected parties and scientific rigor in the analysis) but also in the presentation of data that until now had been marginalized (if not, hidden) in the reports and press releases of the administrations with powers on this issue in Catalonia.
In Catalonia, between 2000 and 2020, 18 different specimens of wolves have been identified with genetic studies; 17 males and a single female (some official notes from the Generalitat incorrectly indicate that two females have been detected). Despite this figure, technically "we cannot speak of the existence of a population of wolves in Catalonia", because in all cases they have been isolated specimens, distributed over time and in the territory in an almost always irregular way, coming from all of them from "the natural dispersion of the alpine wolf population", detail Lampreave, Ruiz-Olmo and Palazón.
The authors also explain that "no evidence of reproduction has been detected"; which, on the other hand, would be unlikely due to the detection of a single wolf in the period studied.
However, despite there being no known cases of reproduction in this species in Catalonia in the period studied, one of the "important and controversial" topics discussed in this chapter is the "risk of hybridization between wolves and dogs" (reproduction of a wolf with a bitch or a dog with a wolf), the authors indicate, mentioning the existence of documented cases of recent hybrids in France, where the wolves that arrived in Catalonia come from.
The mentions of the "risk" of hybridization and the existence of two cases of wolves arriving in Catalonia that have coexisted with feral dogs (which will be explained below) are examples of the "transparency" and scientific rigor of the book coordinated by Ruiz-Olmo and Camps . Except for error or involuntary omission (on the part of the person signing this article), there is no precedent for mentioning the possibility of hybridization or the existence of these cases of wolf-dog relationship in the reports or press releases provided by the Generalitat to the media.
The authors, however, now report that in Catalonia they have been able to study "two specific cases" of relationships between individuals of these two species of canids. "Two male wolves, living solitary lives, joined in each case to a feral dog that was roaming free in the countryside," the authors indicate verbatim on page 206 of this book.
The authors, with direct knowledge of the encounters, explain that in both cases "this association was neither casual nor temporary, but rather we were able to observe relationship behaviors and a strong bond in the two couples for weeks and months." The experts who signed this chapter indicate that these two cases "could constitute the potential beginning of the formation of a possible group, although it is not the most common."
The first of these cases of relationship was detected in the Cadí mountain range in 2006. "Wolf and dog were observed for the first time in June of that year, and we saw or detected them together, hunting, attacking livestock, eating together from a same weight, interacting, smelling each other, licking each other and even howling together on one occasion," they detail. "Finally, in November, after six months of living together, the dog was captured to avoid possible hybridization, and it was found that she was not pregnant," they conclude in this case.
The second appointment took place in Ripollés in 2012: "In July, a male wolf accompanied by a female dog was detected for the first time, and various observations were made of both animals. In one of them, the wolf hunted a chamois, of which "They fed together. After three months it was also possible to capture the dog, which, as in the previous case, was not pregnant either."
"These cases confirm that crosses between wolves and dogs are not the most common in nature," the authors indicate, referring to previous scientific studies in which it is indicated that the probability of hybridization is higher in relationships between dogs and wolves. . However, indicates the article by Lampreave, Ruiz-Olmo and Palazón, taking into account these two cases of relationship mentioned, "we must be attentive to how a possible hybridization could occur in areas of dispersion, low density or absence of females" [of wolves] as is the case in Catalonia".
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