An interesting paper was in front of my seat on the Iberia plane among comercial leaflets, safety instructions and Iberia’s magazine. A part of text from it said:
“The Iberian peninsula has always been bear country. Bears lived in most Spanish forests in the Middle Ages until they lost the protection of kings and nobleman in XVI century and become “outlaws” with a price on their head. Centuries of vicious persecution drove bears into the wildest and most remote parts of the north, on the verge of extinction, until conservationist ideas caught on and turned them into a symbol of conservation. There are now twenty or so brown bears in the Pyrenees, as a result of a successful programme for boosting the small population of Pyrenean bears with specimens brought in from Slovenia. Brown bears are increasing their numbers naturally in the Cantabrian mountains. There are estimated to be around 130 specimens there now and they are on the road to recovery.”
(Click to enlarge)
