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

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Chapron, Guillaume, Kaczensky, Petra, Linnell, John D. C., von Arx, Manuela, Huber, Djuro, Andrén, Henrik, López-Bao, José Vicente, Adamec, Michal, Álvares, Francisco, Anders, Ole, Balčiauskas, Linas, Balys, Vaidas, Bedő, Péter, Bego, Ferdinand, Blanco, Juan Carlos, Breitenmoser, Urs, Brøseth, Henrik, Bufka, Luděk, Bunikyte, Raimonda, Ciucci, Paolo, Dutsov, Alexander, Engleder, Thomas, Fuxjäger, Christian, Groff, Claudio, Holmala, Katja, Hoxha, Bledi, Iliopoulos, Yorgos, Ionescu, Ovidiu, Jeremić, Jasna, Jerina, Klemen, Kluth, Gesa, Knauer, Felix, Kojola, Ilpo, Kos, Ivan, Krofel, Miha, Kubala, Jakub, Kunovac, Saša, Kusak, Josip, Kutal, Miroslav, Liberg, Olof, Majić, Aleksandra, Männil, Peep, Manz, Ralph, Marboutin, Eric, Marucco, Francesca, Melovski, Dime, Mersini, Kujtim, Mertzanis, Yorgos, Mysłajek, Robert W., Nowak, Sabina
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2014
• Subjects: Canis lupus; Gulo gulo; Ursus arctos; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1257553; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1257553

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.