Fernando Ballesteros

• LIFE projects coordinator at Fundación Oso Pardo (Brown Bear Foundation)

The brown bear Ursus arctos L., 1758 population of the Cantabrian Mountains (northwestern Spain) became isolated from other bear populations in Europe about 500 years ago and has declined due to hunting and habitat degradation. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Cantabrian population split into eastern and western subpopulations, and genetic...

Although brown bears (Ursus arctos) are known to be major predators of ungulates in North America and Northern Europe, there is little documentation regarding bear predation on wild ungulates in Southern Europe. We describe search, detection, killing and prey consumption behaviour by brown bears during seven attacks on <1-month roe deer, red deer a...

In May of 1993, an epizootic of sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) was detected in the chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parva) population of the Cantabrian Mountains in northwestern Spain. The epizootic initially spread across an area inhabited by some 1600 chamois. Mortality was lower than reported for other populations of ungulates. The maximum numb...

Pleistocene climatic fluctuations have often driven range shifts and hybridization among related species, leaving present-day genomic footprints. In the Iberian Peninsula, repeated and transient post-glacial contacts among hare species has left extensive mitochondrial DNA traces, but the genomic correlates and underlying biogeographic scenarios are...

Alto Sil ES0000210 y ZEC Sierra de los Ancares ES4130010. Entidad promotora de las actuaciones de restauración Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP). Entidad/es socia/s del proyecto Fundación Oso Pardo, socio coordinador. Fundación Biodiversidad, socio beneficiario. Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla y León, socio beneficiario. Periodo en el que se ha de...

Pleistocene climatic fluctuations have often driven range shifts and hybridization among related species, leaving present-day genomic footprints. In the Iberian Peninsula, Lepus timidus, after its post-deglaciation retreat, has left extensive mitochondrial DNA traces in three other hare species, but the genomic correlates and underlying biogeograph...

Wild cherry (Prunus avium) is a climate-sensitive species of great ecological importance and has gained importance in the diet of the Cantabrian brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) in recent years. Understanding the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of wild cherry and the interactions with bears, specially dispersion to more suitable...

The broom hare (Lepus castroviejoi) is a threatened Iberian endemic, for which there is limited knowledge. We use genetic non-invasive sampling (gNIS; N = 185 faeces samples) and specimens from hunting and roadkills (N = 22) in conjunction with a 15-microsatellite panel and a 541-bp fragment of cytochrome-b to assess the genetic diversity, populati...

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Biotic interactions are expected to influence species' responses to climate change, but they are usually not included when predicting future range shifts. We assessed the importance of biotic interactions to understand future consequences of climate and land use change for biodiversity using as a model system the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Europe...

Brown bears (Ursus arctos) usually mate in spring throughout their global range, although a few cases of breeding activity are known in late summer and autumn. In this note, we describe four observations of courtship and copulations of brown bears in the wild in late August and September 2011, 2019, and 2021 in the Cantabrian Mountains (northwester...

This comprehensive species-specific chapter covers all aspects of the mammalian biology, including paleontology, physiology, genetics, reproduction and development, ecology, habitat, diet, mortality, and behavior. The economic significance and management of mammals and future challenges for research and conservation are addressed as well. The chapt...

In bears, reproduction is dependent on the body reserves accumulated during hyperphagia. The Cantabrian brown bear mainly feeds on nuts during the hyperphagia period. Understanding how landscape heterogeneity and vegetation productivity in human-dominated landscapes influence the feeding habits of bears may therefore be important for disentangling...

Some authors consider that apex predators that cannot regulate prey populations are not a complete conservation target. We argue that this image originates in northern latitudes where cultural models of wildness have developed further due to contingent historical and social reasons. In southern European ecosystems apex predators usually cannot regu...

Little is known about the heritable behavioural traits of attacks by large carnivores on people. During the last  years attacks by brown bears Ursus arctos on people in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain have been disproportionately concentrated in the eastern subpopulation. Excluding factors such as the existence of a single unusually bold bear,...

Sexually selected infanticides (SSI) committed by male bears during the mating season has attracted a great research attention, although this type of behavior has been rarely observed in the wild. Here, we document a bear infanticide attempt in the Cantabrian Mountains in which the male killed the adult female during the fight and, subsequently, co...

El escenario actual de cambio climático puede ocasionar diferentes impactos sobre las especies, desde sus genes hasta su fisiología y comportamiento, pasando por las interacciones entre ellas. A consecuencia del calentamiento global, la literatura científica sugiere que los osos pardos serán más activos durante el invierno, pasando menos tiempo hib...

The current climate change scenario may produce different impacts on species, ranging from on their genes to their physiology and behaviour, and for all possible interactions between all these. As a result of global warming, the scientific literature suggests that the brown bear will be more active during the winter (spending less time hibernating)...

Under the scenario of population growth and range increase of the Cantabrian brown bear, the possibility of bear-human coexistence in the same territory, the compatibility of bears with certain activities, such as livestock farming, or the direct risk that bears pose to humans, are recurring questions in debates relating to its conservation and fut...

Monitoring of the brown bear population in the Cantabrian Mountains has been undertaken using annual counts of the number of female bears with cubs of the year. However, the increase in the bear population and its distribution range over the past 25 years make applying this technique ever less reliable, above all in the western subpopulation. Conse...

New conservation challenges are arising from the current demographic growth and territorial expansion experienced by brown bears in the Cantabrian Mountains, among which is the mitigation of the damage caused to human interests, such as livestock rearing and agriculture. In order to start quantifying the impact bears have in the region, we collated...

This chapter explores three aspects of conflictive brown bear behaviour in the Cantabrian Mountains. Firstly, we argue the reasons of why bears approach humanised areas, what constitutes habituation and what their causes and consequences are. Secondly, we present the problem of bears and human garbage. We revise the worldwide literature of the effe...

A standardised method has been used to monitor bear families in the Cantabrian Mountains since 1989. The quantity of information gathered over this time has been remarkable, with more than 4,500 observations of females with cubs between 1989 and 2018. This information has not only allowed us to confirm the recovery of the species in the Cantabrian...

This chapter addresses how the population recovery of the brown bear in the Cantabrian Mountains affects the consideration of its current state of conservation and its legal protection. In accordance with the criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the population has gone from “Critically Endangered” to “Endangered”, and it will presum...

In a genetic study on brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Cantabrian Mountains, Gregório et al. (2020) interpreted the asymmetrical gene flow they found from the eastern subpopulation towards the western one as an exodus of bears forced to flee from the eastern nucleus “with higher human disturbance and poaching”, concluding that connectivity may be...

The depopulation of rural areas by humans had marked ecological consequences on wildlife in southern Europe, which became evident fifteen years ago. Shrub and tree encroachment, and the expansion of forest birds and of the formerly persecuted mammalian ungulates and carnivores, were highlighted as the major consequences of the rural exodus in Italy...

Reliability of population size and density estimates is one of the most contentious issues when evaluating the conservation status of species. Non-invasive DNA monitoring, combined with spatially explicit capture-recapture approaches (SCR), is recurrently presented as a reliable procedure to achieve accurate, precise and feasible estimates. However...

Las interacciones entre humanos y osos están aumentando en España. El oso siempre ha estado cerca de la gente en la Cordillera Cantábrica y los Pirineos, pero en los últimos años las poblaciones se están recuperando y las actividades de naturaleza son cada vez más populares. Muchos rincones que hasta hace poco apenas eran hollados por humanos sopor...

El objeto de este informe es recopilar información bibliográfica y de campo sobre las relaciones de los osos con las basuras. La finalidad última es conocer la magnitud del este problema en la Cordillera Cantábrica actualmente y plantear una serie de propuestas con la mayor información posible para anticiparnos a los conflictos, prevenirlos y conoc...

The Broom Hare is restricted to a relatively small geographic range with an extent of occurrence of <8,500 km². Within this range the species is highly fragmented, occupying highly specialized patches of scarce heath habitat. These fragmented populations form a dispersed metapopulation within a matrix of unsuitable habitat. Population declines have...

Conservation regulations are increasingly recognized as important elements of the available toolkit for effective biodiversity conservation. However, the full integration of evidence when designing these tools is still scarce, which limits the effectiveness of these legal instruments. Increasing concern is emerging on the compatibility between leis...

Brown bear monitoring in the Cantabrian Mountains has long been based on estimating the minimum number of females with cubs yearly. This approach has allowed to collect valuable information on bear litter size over time, which may help to better understand bear trends. From data of females with cubs since 1989 we have calculated litter size average...

Brown bears are opportunistic omnivores, and aggregations around clumped and abundant food resources have been described for bears feeding on natural or anthropogenic sources (White et al. 1998, Peirce & van Daele 2006). Recent research has shown the importance of kin-related social structures in the spatial ecology of bears (Støen et al. 2005), pa...

Unique genotypes for the Cantabrian brown bear samples. Unique genotypes obtained for Cantabrian brown bear individuals collected at the eastern and western subpopulations respectively. The name of the microsatellite loci used is also indicated.

Summary of sample collection and genetic analyses performed on brown bear (Ursus arctos) from the Cantabric Mountain.

Technical report to help the authorities to take decisions for the rehabilitation of brown bear orphan cubs or bear found injured. This report review the relevant literature on this topic, describes the attempts to rehabilitate orphan cubs and injured bears in the Cantabrian Mountains and in the Pyrenees and provide recommendations for the managers...

Habitat loss and fragmentation due to land use intensification and development of transportation infrastructures, together with direct anthropogenic mortality, have led to a large decline and subdivision of many bear populations. As a result, the viability of bear populations is often largely dependent on functional connectivity through dispersal a...

During the twentieth century, brown bears in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) have been decreasing until the mid-90s. Bears split in two apparently isolated subpopulations, the western (WS) and the eastern subpopulations (ES). Since 1989, the unique number of females with cubs-of-the-year (FCOY) has been monitored yearly as a proxy of the popula...

Este libro se publicó en el año 2012 impulsado por la editorial Cantabria Tradicional, fruto de la iniciativa de Manuel Bahillo que junto a técnicos de SEO/BirdLife y la Fundación Oso Pardo pretendieron plasmar en un manual las experiencias de trabajar en proyectos de restauración ambiental e integración de la naturaleza en obras públicas. La edici...

Las sugerencias y recomendaciones que se establecen en este capítulo son fruto de los debates y discusiones técnicas desarrolladas en el encuentro de expertos en corredores de comunicación para la fauna, organizado por la Fundación Oso Pardo (FOP) en Villablino (León) los días 19 y 20 de diciembre de 2011 dentro de las acciones del proyecto Life+ C...

Our research into the Cantabrian brown bear (Ursus arctos) has focused on females with cubs. Monitoring over the last twenty five years has provided data on demographic and spatial trends that are essential to conservation strategies and has also involved surveillance and protection. Between 1988 and mid-2010 we observed 141 groups of females with...

7.1. Las actividades cinegéticas y la conservación del urogallo 7.1.1. Efectos de la actividad cinegética sobre el urogallo 7.1.2. La actividad cinegética en los Pirineos 7.1.3. La caza mayor en batida 7.1.4. La caza mayor en rececho 7.1.5. La caza menor 7.1.6. Información y divulgación en el colectivo cinegético 7.1.7. Furtivismo 7.2. La gestión d...

Evidence of non-hibernation in brown bears Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758 on the Iberian Peninsula has existed since the Middle Ages. We systematically monitored brown bears in the Cantabrian Mountains (Northern Spain) by recording tracks and sightings from 1998 to 2007 to document hibernation behaviour. Our results indicate that females with yearling...

We reply to the critique from Fernández-Gil et al. (2010) regarding our study on trends in female brown bears with cubs (F CUB ) in the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain (Palomero et al. 2007). We discuss the relationship between sampling effort and the number of F CUB , the methods used to collect the data, and the relationship between the and the whole...

Brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Cantabrian Mountains of northwestern Spain occur in 2 small, isolated, and endangered populations: the western population (WP) and the smaller eastern population (EP) were studied from 1989 to 2004. We documented the number of unique females with cubs-of-the-year (FCUB), the number of cubs per female, and the area...

Conocer las características de las poblaciones de las especies cinegéticas de nuestro coto, finca o reserva es evidentemente algo fundamental si queremos desarrollar una gestión técnica y justificada. Al menos es tan importante como conocer las características del territorio en el que esas poblaciones habitan. En este capítulo se repasan diversos p...

In April 2000, we collected and analyzed for parasites 174 feces belonging to 48 different and identified Cantabrian capercaillies (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) from 39 lek sites in the Cantabrian Mountains (North Spain) and determined the factors related with prevalence and abundance of propagule excretion: (1) interrelations with other parasite...

Fue descrito en 1977 por F. Palacios, quien dedicó el hallazgo al Dr. Castroviejo. La identidad específica ha quedado bien establecida a partir de estudios genéticos y bioquímicos. Recientes estudios de ADN nuclear y mitocondrial aún en curso (Alves et al., 2002) presentan la hipótesis de que la liebre de piornal y la liebre de Córcega (Lepus corsi...

Contenido: I) Introducción. II) El urogallo cantábrico y su hábitat: Algunos aspectos relevantes de la biología del urogallo. El hábitat del urogallo en la cordillera cantábrica. Manejo forestal y conservación del urogallo. Diagnóstico del estado de conservación del hábitat. III) Actuaciones selvícolas: Estructura forestal del hábitat del urogallo:...

Depuis 1993, la population de chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica parva, dans les monts Cantabnques (nord-ouest de l'Espagne) a été affectée par l'éruption de la gale sarcoptique. L'évolution spatio-temporelle a été étudiée par des comptages périodiques sur itinéraires et des comptages annuels, et en enregistrant tous les chamois observés, tirés ou trouvé...

During the spring of 1993, an outbreak of sarcoptic mange was detected for the first time in the western nucleus of the Cantabrian Chamois population (Rupicapra pyrenaica parva) located in the Northwest of Spain. The temporal evolution is quite close to that described in other infestations of this parasite, appearing every year in larger numbers...

Seventeen free living Spanish Cantabrian chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica parva) were inmobilized in the course of different procedures such as translocations for reintroduction programs, disease monitoring and animal identification (radiotracking, collar tags, etc). The drugs used were a mixture of ketamine and xylazin in a proportion of 100:125 mg pe...