After months of public debate the regional government has confirmed they have lodged an objection with the Minister of the Enviromentent, which aims to guarantee the survival of the arruí (big horned wild sheep) of the Sierra Espuña.
The Director General of the regional Department of Environment, Consuelo Rosauro, has announced that the regional Department of Tourism, Culture and the Environment has demanded that the arruí, also known as the muflón del Atlas, should be taken off the list of invasive species.
It was as a result of the animals inclusion on this list that led the Supreme Tribunal to issue an extermination order. This order has been opposed by environmental and ecological organization throughout the region.
The regional administration alleges that the animal may be categorized as “exotic,” as it is not a native of the region and was introduced by man into the Sierra Espuña some 40 years ago, but that there are no reasons for it to be on the list of invasive species. The administration also claims that the evidence presented for exterminating the animals are “not scientific,” neither does the arruí gravely prejudice the environment or threaten other species such as the mountain goat, as claimed.
Although, the administration has asked the Minister to take the arruí off the list of invasive species, a move which would save the animal from eradication, it cannot stop work on the population control, part of the Plan for the Natural Park of the Sierra Espuña, beginning. This would reduce the number of the animals from 1000 to 300.
The only other means of preventing this would be a motion before the national Congress to change the legislation, advocated by the Popular Party, for a last minute change of position by the PSOE and Cuidadanos.
Watch this space!!!
