Searching for WILD SPAIN

An increasing number of rewilding projects in Europe means we no longer need to travel far to watch big predators in their natural habitats. Wanderlust goes on a Cantabrian bear hunt...

- Mike Unwin

My eyes ached. I lowered my binoculars to blink back some life into them then resumed the vigil. Wildlife watching, I reflected, sometimes involves staring for a very long time at nothing while hoping, in vain, for something. But with expert guide Fernando Ballesteros beside me doing the same, I was determined not to be caught napping.

The ‘nothing’ I was scrutinising was, to be fair, the glorious dawn vista of northern Spain’s Cantabrian mountains, and the ‘something’ for which we were combing the rugged slopes was a wild brown bear. Our odds on a sighting were hard to gauge. Here, in Fuentes del Narcea Natural Park, we were deep in bear country and the roadside mirador is a renowned viewing spot. Furthermore, this was peak time: early autumn generally brings the animals up to the higher slopes for the blueberries. But it had been a bad blueberry year, Fernando explained, and they could still be down in the woods, polishing off the last of the season’s hazelnuts.

Either way, it was a fine autumn morning and first light was etching form into the panorama,from the high limestone battlements, down across the heathery hillsides to the dark wooded valleys. As I scanned the horizon, it also revealed distant radio masts, a cable car and what Fernando told me is an old coal-mine: reminders that this is a human landscape, too.

My binoculars inched once again over the landscape. I tried to be methodical, working along ridge and down gulley. Would a bear be out in the open? How big would it look from here? Suddenly I saw a brown animal crossing the scree. Bingo! “Fernando,” I called. “I’ve just…” But he was already onto it. “Chamois,” he exclaimed. “Bravo!” Ah, I think. Nice. But…

RESTORING THE BALANCE