Graham Keeley, Madrid
Wolves have been sighted in woodland on the fringes of Madrid for the first time in over 60 years.
Two adults and five cubs from the native Spanish wolf, Canis lupis signatus, were filmed by members of the ecologist group Sierra Carpetania over a two-year period.
Until now only sporadic attacks by wolves on sheep or even cows on farmland near the Spanish capital had been reported.
But video shot by the ecologists of wolves frolicking in the Sierra de Guadarrama will raise fears among farmers that their livestock might come under fresh attack from the ancient enemy.
About 25 miles (37km) north west of Madrid, the Sierra is home to farms but also has an abundant population of deer and wild boar.
Miraflores de la Sierra, an upmarket town nearby, is home to many foreign executives who work in the capital.
“There have been sporadic attacks on livestock in the area so it does not seem strange that we should find these wolves here. Especially as the wolf came back to the neighbouring regions of Segovia and Guadalajara in the 90s,” said Rubãn Laso, of Sierra Carpentania.
“It was just a question of time before they arrived here.”
Madrid’s regional government said it had no confirmation of the claims by Sierra Carpetania.
“At the same time, it does not seem strange that some wolves should wander into the Madrid area particularly in February when they are searching for new territory,” said a spokesman for the Madrid government.
Gamekeepers reported seeing wolves in the area in 2010 but the new video is the first documentary evidence that wolves have arrived.
“I was going through the woods in 2010 when I spotted a wolf,” Omar Alonso, a game keeper who works for the Madrid government, said.
The Spanish wolf is a protected species so farmers are not allowed to shoot them even if their animals are attacked.
Instead in 2011, after a series of suspected wolf attacks on livestock in farmland near Madrid, authorities approved a compensation system for farmers.
For every cow killed or attacked the farmer will receive €800 (£691), €500 (£432) for horses and €350 (£302) for each sheep. To qualify for compensation farmers have to produce the bodies of the dead animals within 48 hours.
In 2012, according to the Association of Farmers, there were 17 wolf attacks in the Madrid region.
When wolves were detected in hills only 25 miles (40km) from Barcelona, farmers employed a novel method to combat a spate of attacks on farm animals.
Pyrenean mountain dogs were raised with sheep as the last line of defence against this age old enemy.
Scientists believe these were not the Spanish wolf, but Italian interlopers who crossed the Pyrenees into northeastern Spain.