The first ever confirmed case of a bear being killed in a road traffic accident in Spain occurred at around 6am last Tuesday morning on the A-6 freeway (km 417) near Vega de Calcarce (León).

It is thought that the young male specimen that died may have wandered from the nearby Alto Sil bear sanctuary.

Brown Bear Foundation* president, Guillermo Palermo, lamented the loss, "because with such a small population, the loss of a bear is always going to be a problem," but pointed out that "it would have been a lot more serious if it had been a female."

Since the start of the 20th century, Mr Palermo explained, the Cantabrian bear population has been fragmented in two colonies, a situation that jeopardises their continued survival.

Only between 25-30 bears remain in the eastern Cantabrian mountains, over a 2,500km2 area spanning the northeast of León province, northern Palencia, Cantabria and eastern Asturias.

There are around four times that number living further west in an area covering León province, southeast Asturias and eastern Lugo.

After decades of continued declines, Spanish brown bear numbers have started picking up in recent years, especially in the west, with more and more sightings in previously unpopulated areas near León city, and Ourense province to the north.

Further evidence of this recovery came last year, when a record 21 females gave birth to cubs.

*Fundación Oso Pardo - http://www.fundacionosopardo.org/