Recovery of large carnivores in Europe's modern human-dominated landscapes

Abstract

The conservation of large carnivores is a formidable challenge for biodiversity conservation. Using a data set on the past and current status of brown bears (Ursus arctos), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), gray wolves (Canis lupus), and wolverines (Gulo gulo) in European countries, we show that roughly one-third of mainland Europe hosts at least one large carnivore species, with stable or increasing abundance in most cases in 21st-century records. The reasons for this overall conservation success include protective legislation, supportive public opinion, and a variety of practices making coexistence between large carnivores and people possible. The European situation reveals that large carnivores and people can share the same landscape.

Published in

Science
2014, volume: 346, number: 6216, pages: 1517-1519
Publisher: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

SLU Authors

• Chapron, Guillaume

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Andren, Henrik

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Lopez, José

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Liberg, Olof

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Persson, Jens

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG15 Life on land

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1257553

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/63868