01x12 - Episode 12

[bunniefuu]

- [Dan] Hunting in Spain

has always been a big part

of the culture and to

this day is practiced

by almost a million

of its inhabitants.

The hunting industry

contributes 6.4 billion Euro

to the economy each year.

The ibex is one of the

most iconic species to hunt

with four subspecies

native to Spain.

Their pursuit has

been a cornerstone

in Spanish culture

for centuries.

I'm traveling to Spain

for a hunting trip

with my family to pursue

this hard to reach species

in its natural habitat

while immersing

ourselves in the culture.

Hunting has become a

controversial practice

in modern times.

My name is Dan Cabela and

I'm traveling the globe to

explore the true impact

that hunting is having

on our remaining

wild landscapes.

This practice goes as far back

as human history can remember

but does it have a place

in modern conservation?

(string music)

- Well, we finally

made it to Spain.

We're in a little village.

This place looks like

a miniature castle.

It's beautiful.

- [Dan] My parents

first traveled to Spain

in 1987 on a hunting trip

and it's a place I've always

wanted to visit with my family.

Hunter's dollars

play a vital role

in the conservation of

species like the ibex,

and I am looking forward

to learning exactly how.

There is a healthy ibex

population in Spain today.

But that wasn't always the case.

In the 1920s King

Alfonso XIII created

the first ever national

preserve in Gredos

Precisely to conserve

the Gredos' ibex

one of the four subspecies

occurring in Spain

which was close to

extinction at the time.

The hunting law was introduced

in the 1970s to regulate

the hunting season

and limit the number of

tags issued each year.

- [Juan] There's no free

hunting everybody that wants

to hunt here, it's done through

the auctions and everybody

if you want to buy one, you

go to the auction like we do

and then buy the tags.

So all of that money is

pooled into the, into

the national preserve

- [Dan] The local society

of hunters is doing a

lot to protect wildlife

and natural habitat

for all the species that

occur in the region.

They have built and maintained

waterholes that are utilized

by all the local fauna.

They also plant food plots

and do road maintenance with

funds generated from hunting.

Each hunter visiting

the country brings

in tens of thousands

of dollars of revenue.

- The town owns the property

of the land and the property

of the ibex's and the town

gives them those permits

to be sold, and that money

goes back to them to build this

or build the, the water

for the partridges

or the salt or the grain.

They make the roads, plow to

plant, all of those things.

- And that's all funded

through through hunting.

- Yeah, exactly.

(Spanish)

- Every year the money of

every year's money has to go

into the conservation

of the ibex, every year.

He says in, in

years in of drought

because this area has

quite a bit of drought

80 to 90% of the, of the

money that is received

from the ibex has to go to

water and food for all the gain.

And if the populations

are healthier

of ibex or partridges, they

give them a higher number

of permits because they

do a census every year.

So if the those

populations are healthier

there's more animals

and they will get more

permits in the future.

So they work for, for more

conservation, more animals,

more hunting and going,

it's like a circle.

- [Dan] I'm traveling to the

Gredos' mountain range to

hunt the first of the four

ibex, we will hunt in Spain.

The Gredos ibex.

I think it's very

meaningful to hunt an animal

that is difficult to

get to and hunt them

in their environment.

And to be able to put

yourself to the test to

actually accomplish this

type of hunt means a lot.

Hunting ibex is kind

of an all day affair.

You spend hours

glassing trying to

find a mature old, billy ibex.

And then once you actually

spot a mature ibex - billy

it's usually not

a short distance.

There's usually a

good bit of elevation.

Typically it takes, you

know, anywhere from one

to four to five hours

to spot and stalk a

mature billy ibex.

(string music) (birds chirping)

- We've seen several

ibex this morning.

Lots of females,

quite a few males.

We did see a, a very

nice male that, that they

they aged at 12,

we passed on him

'Cause we're looking for

something a little bit older.

But things look promising.

There's a lot of movement

and activity out here.

- Great effort is put

into only taking the

very old males that

have already passed

on their genetics and are

passed their breeding prime.

- This is the, in my

opinion, is the best tool.

You know, sh**t the oldest

what we're looking for

is 15, 14, 16 even.

Something that is already

suffering maybe, less teeth

or the teeth are not very good.

He cannot eat.

He can get not strong enough to

to go in the rut, not strong

to go, to go running around.

So it's just to sh**t

the oldest, in my opinion

is the best conservation tool

for the, for the species.

(soft piano music)

(water trickling)

- [Dan] After two

full days of searching

we were given our

first real opportunity

at an old billy ibex.

- He's right there.

- Hello

- Right there.

(adventurous music)

(g*nsh*t)

(light piano music)

(leaves crunching)

- What an incredible morning.

We worked hard, did some

hiking, struck out early

and then we came over to

another area and you guys picked

up this old billy standing

on this ledge over here

and uh, took a long

shot across the canyon

and, and here we go.

We've got an old

mature ibex here.

Can, can you give us

an idea of how you guys

from that distance can judge

the age uh, of a, of an ibex?

Whether it's mature or not?

- Yeah. When we saw it

over there, you know

one of the main things

is the, is the markings.

You know, the black of

the animals, the, the

the old mature animals

are normally really

really black like this one.

And also the shape of the horns

you see how they're pointing up.

It's already finishing the

turn, you know how it sweeps up.

And then you can start

counting the rings of, of

of the edge because this

is when they are rotting

they stop eating completely.

So you can really see, you know

when they are rotting

and there's no eating.

So you can count the

years very clearly.

- Thanks again, Juan, for

an incredible experience.

- Absolutely.

Congratulations.

- Thank you.

(light piano music)

- [Dan] Meticulous records

are taken by the gamekeepers

after the harvest to

document general health

and age to better

manage the species.

(light piano music)

As is true across

much of the world

human impact has

had a serious effect

on wildlife through

the spread of disease

In Spain there are

ibex that have picked

up mange from domestic goats,

as well as entire herds

that have been

infected with scabies.

This is taking a massive

toll on their population.

But the local society of hunters

has been working on a solution

by deploying ivermectin

treatment at the Salt Lakes.

They have been

seeing some success.

(string music)

- [Juan] We're using a

natural salt lake that

has been used forever,

and we are gonna put some

more salt and then the

ivermectin, for the scabies,

you know? It's a huge

problem in this area,

and they're putting salt

and a lot of feed with

the ivermectin in it so

they cure themselves.

We can get the ivermectin

in blocks like that

and we have to grind

it and then mix it

with also rock salt,

not just blocks of salt.

(string music)

All this is salt, you

know, coming from the rock

you can see the, the, the,

the shape of the mouth.

That's why we use this

place to put the food

and the salt for them because

they're used to come here

you know, for, for centers.

You can see here, see also,

- Yeah

- There's big population here

or it was really

healthy population

but the ibex are very

gregarious animals.

They are always in bunches.

So it's, it's very easy

to, to, to pass the

disease from one ibex

to the next because they're

together all the time.

- What does the scabies

do to the, to the ibex?

What's the impact on the animal?

- So the scabies is

is a parasite that

goes underneath your

skin and makes like

like caves in your skin.

So your skin starts dying.

And as the scabies,

as the parasite

continues to grow in

your, in your skin

all your skin dies and

you get infections.

That's why they die.

They don't die because

of the scabies itself.

It's because the infections

without the barrier of the skin,

a lot of things go into the body

of the ibex and then you die

of that, of those infections.

- (Spanish)

And it's all paid

by the hunters only,

not the government, right

now is not helping at all.

Only the, only the hunters.

- Why is it important for

the hunters and, and the

and the village to,

to support, you know

a program like this, to, to

try and keep the ibex healthy?

- (Spanish)

- He says that for many

villages, as you saw, as

you've been seeing there

might be 5, 6, 10 neighbors

in the village.

So probably the number

one source of income

from the village, it's

hunting, it's the permits

from the ibex.

So what, between the villagers

and the, and the hunters

what they're trying

to do is to maintain

as big a population as

possible to continue hunting

so they can use that

money in the town to make

you know, maybe roads or

whatever they need in the town.

- [Dan] Hunting in

Spain accounts for 0.3%

of GDP as well as the creation

of 186,000 jobs each year,

both directly and indirectly.

Our next stop takes us

to the Malaga province in

search of the Ronda ibex.

Although the smallest in stature

of the subspecies

occurring in Spain,

the terrain they're found

in makes for an incredibly

challenging hunt.

It's early morning,

we've arrived

at the area for the Ronda

Ibex, I'm just getting our tags

in order and it's pretty

brisk, beautiful morning.

Be getting started here shortly

and I'm looking forward to

another great day in Spain.

- [Dan] We are on the

hunt for an old Ronda

ibex and it's proving to

be quite the challenge.

So we did a really good stalk.

We got 18 yards from the ibex.

We were expecting the big one

to be with the other ones.

We'll keep on chasing them.

- It's been kind of a

lengthy first morning,

hunting the Ronda ibex out here.

We, we, uh just took

a break for lunch.

They had some ibex

that we cooked up here.

I've, I've never

had ibex before.

It was quite good and

I think we're refreshed

and we're gonna

get back after it.

(adventurous music)

- Often after you spot an

ibex that looks to be mature

there will be some

hiking involved

and you'll have to

cover some terrain and

and you have to

do it in a manner

to where they don't

wind you or see you.

So it can get difficult

at times approaching the ibex

depending on where they're at

and you just kind of

grind it out until you get

within sh**ting range and

make a successful stop.

(adventurous music)

(g*nsh*t)

- Well, it's been a

pretty eventful day.

Took a very long shot

actually the longest

shot I've ever taken.

Very rocky kind of

terrible place actually.

But, but we did manage

to get him and he

and he's a heck of a trophy,

a, a beautiful old Ronda ibex

and very happy

about the results.

- After an intense hunt,

we took our time to soak

in the rich Spanish

history in this region.

- [Fernando Saiz] You

go to any small village

in Spain, you can find

a 16th century church

- To see all the gold that

they used in the churches.

And, it is amazing

- [Dan] With our batteries

recharged, we are heading

into the rugged Sierra

Nevada mountains to look

for the South Eastern ibex

which is larger and

darker than the Ronda

but smaller and

lighter in color than

the Beceite and Gredos.

Each mountain range we

traversed was more intense

and rocky than the last.

It takes a lot of determination

and grit to hunt these animals

in their natural habitat

and it's one of the most

exhilarating hunting

experiences I have ever had.

Yeah, so we, we spent a good bit

of the day looking for

mature South Eastern billy

and we had seen a couple,

but they were just, you know

impossible to get to and

the guy saw one way back

on the top where

we had come from.

So we quickly came

back up the mountain

got into position

fairly quickly.

It was based on what's

happened here so far,

a fairly close shot, 180 yards

and we got ourselves

a really nice Billy,

very nice South Eastern ibex.

Thank you.

- Congratulations.

- Great.

- [Dan] You know, the hunting

preserves in Spain are

are very well managed and

there are strict rules put

in place and the

quotas are limited.

These are high value animals,

so it doesn't take a lot

of them to be shot to

benefit the entire ecosystem

After some glassing we

spotted one in a valley

so the hiking wasn't as

challenging, but this also meant

that we needed to be especially

mindful of wind direction

and noise as not to alert

him to our presence.

(adventurous music)

(g*nsh*t)

- Beautiful ibex.

Congratulations.

- The Beceite ibex

is the second largest

of the four subspecies,

both in body and horn size.

To have the privilege of

harvesting a magnificent animal

like this at the end of our

trip brings it all home.

I am grateful that

our dollars will go

towards protecting the species

and their pristine natural

habitat for future generations.

(hopeful music)

Well, Juan, we've had a

pretty cool adventure.

Really. We're struggling to

find a mature, Beceite ibex

but just like with a

lot of things in hunting

we just kept moving, kept

glassing, covering lots

of ground and then all of a

sudden, boom, there he was.

I couldn't be happier right now.

Spain's history is steeped

in hunting tradition.

There are trophies

that have been

on these walls longer

than I've been alive, and

it's this heritage that has

helped to protect these species

natural habitat in a modern

and developed country.

There is nothing

more special to me

than sharing an animal

that I have harvested

with my family and friends.

It was especially good to

share this with my mother

Mary and our host Fernando

who has known my

parents for many years

(string music)

(background chatter)

- If you look back to your

younger years when you were here

and then you started

this hunting company, the

the wildlife numbers in Spain

specifically, maybe even

the Gredos ibex and some

of those things, we talked

about, the the parks.

Where have they gone?

- Up, up, up, up,

up up. Incredible.

Through the protection, through

the gamekeeper everything

Incredible, and all the animals.

- How, how is that all paid for?

- I will say the hunters because

when we buy a permit for me

or for you, for

anybody, we pay a lot.

And that money goes

not to the government,

central government, it goes

to the local government to

protect that area.

And it's the only way that

the best conservation is,

are the hunters.

I mean, how I would like

my, my hunting estate.

I love to protect him for,

for the next generations.

What I am doing the best of

the best, for the animals

- [Dan] Millions of euros

are generated each year

through the

well-managed off take

of the various ibex subspecies,

the vast majority of

which is going back

into the sustainable

management of the species.

The hunting journey in Spain

was an amazing

experience for me.

It was very fulfilling

to see the amount

of effort and care

for conservation that

the locals had in

in harvesting very old,

mature billies and going out

of their way and working

very hard to make sure

that you're only taking

the oldest percentage

of the population.

I had a deep appreciation

for that and if that

were applied

everywhere on the globe

I think populations

would benefit.

(soft string music)

(bird noises)