It took around five years, but the verdict has finally arrived, recognising the guilt of two hunters who, in 2015, during a hunting expedition had illegally killed a specimen of the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus), a subspecies of the grey wolf found in northern Portugal and north-western Spain.

The verdict

The criminal court of Ávila, a Spanish city in the region of Castile and León, established the guilt of the two men, also finding that one of the accused had taken part in the hunt without a hunting licence, and sentenced the two defendants to pay a total fine of €57,000.

One of the two hunters must also serve six months in prison for illegal possession of weapons, while both are banned from any hunting activity for three years. The verdict may be appealed within ten days.

A historic verdict

It is the first conviction for the illegal hunting of a wolf in Spain and could represent an important step forward in the protection of this predator, serving as a deterrent to poachers. The environmental organisation Ecologistas en acción, one of the associations that declared themselves a civil party in the trial, welcomed the verdict, despite having called for harsher penalties.