The westernmost part of the Brown bear's range in Europe is in Spain. In the northern coastal mountain ranges, the Cantabrian Cordilleras, there are still between 60 and 80 bears to be found. EuroNatur's partner organisation FAPAS has regularly been patrolling this region over a number of years, always on the same routes. Therefore, Fapas now has reliable information on the population densities and migratory behaviour of the bears. In the entire range Fapas looks for traces revealing the presence of bears, such as claw marks on trees, turned stones, faeces and footprints.

Alfonso leaped with joy. His little dance was preceded by a thorough analysis of what he had found. "The traces are very fresh" he said, "It must have happened last night." The mighty chestnut's bark was peeled off in large strips which were strewn on the ground. On the open and still damp surface of the tree trunk the traces left by the strong claws were clearly visible. Brown bears have a liking for the cambium layer of sweet chestnut and ash trees. In order to reach this tasty layer they peel whole tree trunks.

This scene took place in the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain. Alfonso Hartasánchez, a thirty-five year old conservationist, has been living in the Somiedo Valley since the early 1980s and has patrolled the region almost every day, searching for traces left by the bears. Based on his detailed knowledge of the area he confirmed that 18 bears still lived in the area. Often he can't actually see the bears but he can tell them apart based on their footprints and the colour of the hairs he finds stuck in the tree bark. Twice or three times a week Alfonso Hartasánchez goes on patrol together with the Seprona, a kind of Spanish environmental police force. Not only the bears but also those who seek to protect them live dangerously. Despite strict legal protection there are still poachers who go after the bears. More than once Alfonso Hartasánchez has stood between poachers and bears. The risks taken appear to pay off. Over recent years the bear population has not only stabilised but numbers have even increased a little. Another shimmer on the horizon is that bears have reappeared in areas where for years no traces of them had been found. It is one of the most pressing tasks in protecting the Brown bear in Europe to support the distribution of the species in northern Spain. We at EuroNatur help our Spanish partner organisation FAPAS (Fund for the Protection of Wild Animals). We need your help in this endeavour.

The Cantabrian bear population lives in two mountain regions. The eastern range is approximately 2,500 square kilometers in size and contains parts of the provinces Castilia-León, Cantabria and Asturia. Twenty to twenty-five bears live here. In the western range, covering about 3,000 square kilometers in the provinces of Castilia-León, Cantabria and Galicia, there are another 40 to 60 bears. Both ranges are clearly separated by an area which is 4,000 square kilometers in size and in which for years no traces of bears were found. It was only in 1994 that observations confirmed the presence of a single bear.