Little is known about the heritable behavioural traits of attacks by large carnivores on people. During the last 30 years attacks by brown bears Ursus arctos on people in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain have been disproportionately concentrated in the eastern subpopulation. Excluding factors such as the existence of a single unusually bold bear, a higher human population density, particular human activities promoting encounters, or clear habitat differences in the area of this subpopulation, we propose that a plausible explanation for the unbalanced geographical attack pattern is that this subpopulation, separated a century earlier from the western subpopulation, may harbour a higher proportion of bolder bears. In the absence of genetic analyses this explanation remains speculative, but supports the hypothesis that genetic variation on the shy–bold continuum may influence attacks of large carnivores on people.

The Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as well as on the European and Spanish Red Lists. Spain is home to the most important breeding population of Egyptian vultures in Europe but this population has differing trends at a regional scale. We present data for the Egyptian vulture population in the Cantabrian Mountains, north-west Spain, during the last 3 decades and assess the main threats to the species there. The Egyptian vulture population in the Cantabrian Mountains was estimated to be 175 breeding pairs in 2008, which comprised 13–14% of the Spanish population. This population has been stable, or increasing slightly, since 2000. During 2000–2008 4.3% of the Cantabrian Egyptian vulture population was affected by the use of illegal poison. During the same period the number of sheep and goats reared (which contributes to the maintenance of Egyptian vulture territories) was reduced by 27.4%, which could lead to food shortages for the vultures in the near future. Currently 32 breeding pairs (18.3% of the population) have wind turbines within their foraging areas, with an average of 59 wind turbines per territory (range 1–176). During the next few years this number will increase to 110 turbines per territory within 69 vulture territories (39.4% of the population). Nearly a third (32.6%) of breeding territories are located outside protected areas. Better coordination between administrative areas is needed to guarantee the conservation of the Cantabrian Mountains population of Egyptian vultures through effective surveillance and protection in the numerous existing protected areas.

Relict endangered populations may be especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A data series for the period 1974–2003 was used to examine shifts in brown bear Ursus arctos food habits in its south-westernmost European population. This focused on the hyperphagic season, when bears gain the fat that is essential for winter dormancy and reproduction. General climatic indicators were predictors of diet trends. Other variables potentially able to modify brown bear food habits at the local scale were accounted for by considering two areas where local conditions changed in different ways during the study period. General climatic indicators such as temperature and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index were good predictors of some diet trends, although local factors seemed to modulate the potential response of food habits to recent climate change. Boreal and temperate food items decreasingly contributed to brown bear diet, replaced by increasing contributions of southern foods, which suggested that warmer temperatures might determine the occurrence of some food items in the diet of Cantabrian brown bears through effects on plant distribution and phenology. At the local scale, high cattle density in one of the study areas limited food sources available for brown bears. Important food sources for brown bears, such as heath-like Vaccinium formations and old-growth oak forest in the Cantabrian Mountains, require increased levels of protection.