rhamphotheca:Europe Is a “Great” Place to Be a Large Meat-EaterIn a rare success story for wildlife,
rhamphotheca:Europe Is a “Great” Place to Be a Large Meat-EaterIn a rare success story for wildlife, bears, lynx, wolverine and wolves are increasing in numbers across the continentby Rachel NuwerWildlife conservation is a field often beleaguered with bad news. In Europe, however, large carnivores are proving to be the exception to the rule. According to research compiled by about 75 wildlife experts, brown bears, Eurasian lynx, gray wolves and wolverines are all on the rise across the continent. This conservation success demonstrates that people and large carnivores can indeed coexist, the team says.The findings are based on the best available standardized information about the abundance and range of large carnivores in every European country except Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The work also excludes tiny nations like Lichtenstein and Andorra. The team collected both historical data compiled from World War II to the 1970s and the most recent population estimates, so they could compare how the numbers of animals have changed over time.The bulk of those figures came from experts affiliated with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. Professionals working at universities and conservation groups and local and national governments also supplied data…(read more: Smithsonian Magazine)maps by Chapron et al.; photo by Konrad Wothe/Minden Pictures/Corbis -- source link
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