Iberian wolf

The Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus, or Canis lupus lupus, Spanish: Lobo ibérico, Portuguese: Lobo-ibérico), is a subspecies of grey wolf. It inhabits the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, which includes northwestern Spain and northern Portugal, housing 2,200 to 2,700 wolves. They form the largest wolf population in Western Europe. Due to population controls and damage to livestock, Iberian wolves were the only Western European subspecies of wolf whose hunting remained legal, until February 2021 when hunting was banned in Spain. The hunting permits given in Spain over the period 2019–2021 were for a quota of 339 animals in total, strictly in the region north of the Douro river. Along with the difficulty of their hunt by virtue of their vigilant nature and the rarity of their sightings, they were strongly desired by many European hunters as a big-game trophy. In March 2025, the Congress approved hunting of the Iberian wolf north of the Douro River again, due to a significant growth in population and the resulting increase in livestock losses.