The Sierra de la Culebra, or Serra da Coroa (in
Portuguese), is a mountain range in
Castile and León, northwest
Spain, and northeastern
Portugal. It lies 7 km south of
Puebla de Sanabria in the comarcas of
Aliste,
Sanabria and
La Carballeda (
Zamora Province), as well as
Vinhais and
Bragança municipalities in the
District of Bragança. Its highest point is 1,243 metres (4,078 ft) high Peña Mira, located near
Flechas, within
Figueruela de Arriba municipal term; other important peaks are Miño Cuevo 1,211 metres (3,973 ft) and La Pedrizona 1,054 metres (3,458 ft).
[1]
The Sierra de la Culebra is a 95 km long regular mountain chain of medium height, forming a natural border with the Portuguese region of
Tras os Montes on its western end. Its slopes are wooded, occasionally ravaged by
forest fires. The summits of the range are often covered with
snow in the winter and there are odd-looking rocky
quartzite outcrops on them.
Among the rivers in Spain and Portugal having their source in Sierra de la Culebra, the
Castro River,
Tera,
Tuella,
Sabor and
Maçãs (Manzanas), deserve mention.
These mountains are famous as one of the few remaining strongholds of the
Iberian wolf.
[2]
The Sierra de la Culebra is a southeastern prolongation of
Sierra Segundera, at the southern fringes of the
Macizo Galaico-Leonés. The western prolongations of
Serra de Montezinho or Maciço de Montesinho,
Sierra de la Gamoneda (
Portuguese: Serra da Gamoneda) and
Sierra del Marabón (
Portuguese: Serra de Marabón) are part of the Sierra de la Culebra mountainous system. Other subranges are
Sierra de las Cavernas,
Sierra de los Cantadores and
Sierra de las Carbas, located on the Spanish side.
One important feature is the
Rock of the Three Kingdoms dividing three ancient Iberian kingdoms in the Serra de Marabón subrange.
[3]
On the Portuguese side the area of the Sierra de la Culebra range is included in the
Montesinho Natural Park.
The Reserva de Caza de la Sierra de la Culebra, is a national hunting forest reserve on the Spanish side. Controversially, the wolves are protected in the reserve in order that they may be shot by sportsmen on payment of a fee of several thousand Euros. This process is defended on the grounds that it helps pay for the upkeep of the reserve and thus the protection of the species as a whole.
[4] The number of wolves authorised for hunting each year in Spain is strictly controlled, the auction being carried out in
Villardeciervos, but many more are shot illegally.
[5]
In the Sierra de la Culebra reserve, wolves may occasionally be observed when attracted to a bait-station, known locally as a Muladar, where remains of dead horses and donkeys are put out for them.
On the Sierra de la Culebra reserve there is a healthy population of the wolves' main prey species -
roe deer,
red deer and
wild boar. The presence of the carcasses put out for the wolves also attracts spectacular raptors such as the
griffon vulture.
There are also small colonies of
Vipera latastei and
Coronella austriaca, which perhaps gave the mountains their name.