Friend or foe? Europe’s largest wolf population divides opinion in Spain and Portugal

Wolf numbers are rising, but so is illegal hunting, reports Graham Keeley from Madrid

There are currently believed to be some 3,000 wolves in Spain and Portugal, the largest population in Europe. (Dave Kettering/Telegraph Herald)

Two hunters were convicted of the illegal killing of an Iberian wolf in the first case of its kind as the resurgence of the animal in Spain has inspired love and loathing in equal measure.  

The men, who were not named by a court in Avila in northern Spain, were ordered to pay fines totalling €57,000 (£51,450) for hunting without a licence and for “offences against wildlife”.  

Both were banned from hunting for three years, while one of the men was also convicted of illicit possession of a weapon and handed a six-month suspended jail sentence.