• DOI:10.1126/science.1257553
• Corpus ID: 206560086

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

@article{Chapron2014RecoveryOL,
  title={Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes},
  author={Guillaume Chapron and Petra Kaczensky and John D C Linnell and Manuela von Arx and Djuro Huber and Henrik Andr{\'e}n and Jos{\'e} Vicente L{\'o}pez‐Bao and Michal Adamec and Francisco {\'A}lvares and Ole Anders and Linas Bal{\vc}iauskas and Vaidas Balys and P{\'e}ter Bedő and Ferdinand Bego and Juan Carlos Blanco and Urs Breitenmoser and Henrik Br{\o}seth and Luděk Bufka and Raimonda Bunikyte and Paolo Ciucci and Alexander Dutsov and Thomas Engleder and Christian Fuxj{\"a}ger and Claudio Groff and Katja Holmala and Bledi Hoxha and Yorgos Iliopoulos and Ovidiu Ionescu and Jasna Jeremi{\'c} and Klemen Jerina and Gesa Kluth and Felix Knauer and Ilpo Kojola and Ivan M. Kos and Miha Krofel and Jakub Kubala and Sa{\vs}a Kunovac and Josip Kusak and Miroslav Kutal and Olof Liberg and Aleksandra Majic and Peep M{\"a}nnil and Ralph Manz and {\'E}ric Marboutin and Francesca Marucco and Dime Melovski and Kujtim Mersini and Yorgos Mertzanis and Robert W. Mysłajek and Sabina Nowak and John Odden and Jānis T. Ozoliņ{\vs} and Guillermo Palomero and M Svetlana Paunovic and Jens Persson and Hubert Poto{\vc}nik and P. Y. Quenette and Georg Rauer and Ilka Reinhardt and Robin Rigg and Andreas Ryser and Valeria Salvatori and Toma{\vz} Skrbin{\vs}ek and Aleksandar Stojanov and Jon E. Swenson and L{\'a}szl{\'o} Szemethy and Aleksand{\"e}r Trajçe and Elena Tsingarska-Sedefcheva and Martin V{\'a}ňa and Rauno Veeroja and Petter Wabakken and Manfred W{\"o}lfl and Sybille W{\"o}lfl and Fridolin Zimmermann and Diana P. Zlatanova and Luigi Boitani},
  journal={Science},
  year={2014},
  volume={346},
  pages={1517 - 1519}
}

• G. Chapron, P. Kaczensky, +73 authors L. Boitani
• Published 19 December 2014
• Environmental Science
• Science

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. Many populations of brown bears, lynx, grey wolves, and wolverines persist successfully outside protected areas in Europe. Success for Europe's large carnivores? Despite pessimistic forecasts, Europe's large carnivores are making a comeback. Chapron et al. report that sustainable populations of brown bear, Eurasian lynx, gray wolf, and wolverine persist in one-third of mainland Europe. Moreover, many individuals and populations are surviving and increasing outside protected areas set aside for wildlife conservation. Coexistence alongside humans has become possible, argue the authors, because of improved public opinion and protective legislation. Science, this issue p. 1517