page_title: Iberian wolf
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Iberian wolf / Description
caption_attribution_description: In the image we can clearly see the white stripes in the snouts and the black marks in the front legs, two of the characteristics of the sub. signatus
context_page_description: The Iberian wolf also known as Spanish wolf, is a proposed subspecies of grey wolf that inhabits the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, which includes northern Portugal and northwestern Spain. It is home to 2,200-2,700 wolves which have been isolated from mixing with other wolf populations for over a century. They form the largest wolf population in Western Europe.
  Due to population controls and damages to livestock, Iberian wolves are, as of today, the only Western European subspecies of wolf whose hunting remains legal, yet only in Spain. Nonetheless, very few hunting permits are given every year, strictly 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 are strongly desired by many European hunters as a big-game trophy.
context_section_description: Cabrera identified two types of wolves living in Spain. In comparison, C. l. lupus had a pale, undefined stroke on the cheek that contrasts with the white on the throat; C. l. signatus had a white stroke on the cheek that joins the white throat and with a reddish snout; and C. l. deitanus was much smaller and with more colouring than the wolves to the north. C. l. signatus is described as being 140-180 cm in head and body length, and 70-80 cm height at the shoulders.
  The Iberian wolf differs from the more common Eurasian wolf with its slighter frame, white marks on the upper lips, the dark marks on the tail, and a pair of dark marks in its front legs that give it its subspecies name, signatus ("marked"). The subspecies differentiation may have developed at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Ages due to the isolation of the Iberian Peninsula when glacier barriers grew in the Pyrenees and eventually reached the Gulf of Biscay in the west and the Mediterranean in the east.
  Males can weigh 30-50 kg, although up to 75 kg have been found.Females have dimensions and weight lower than those of males.
caption: White stripes on the snouts and black marks on the front legs are distinguishing markings of the subspecies
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