As carnivorous species in the United States, like the Mexican Gray Wolf, face dwindling populations and increased difficulties finding niche habitats, a new study reveals that carnivores in Europe are on the rise-and they are more than twice as abundant. The new study published this week in the journal Science reports that while Europe may be one of the most industrialized landscapes on the face of the Earth, that conservation efforts and restoration practices have led the continent to large-scale success in bringing back continental carnivore populations.
Lead by a team of more than 50 biologists across Europe from Norway to Bulgaria, the study mapped out and investigated population sizes of four types of large carnivores in particular, to better estimate the viability of conservation practices and legislation across the continent. Focusing particularly on wolves, brown bears, wolverines and the Eurasian lynx, the researchers found that while practices may not have helped the populations in the 20th century, as hunting and urbanization posed formidable threats to the many species, that the 21st century is seeing a booming rise in the carnivorous populations, and the increase seems steady too.
"There is a deeply rooted hostility to these species in human history and culture" study authors wrote in the journal Science. Yet, all but four of the continent's 50 nations are now home to the predatory populations. As the tides are changing, and individuals are becoming more conscious to the plight that humans introduce to the world of nature, conservation efforts are becoming evermore efficient, and the growing populations are proof to that fact.
Compared to the United States, the study found that there was more than twice the abundance and population density of these carnivores in Europe that there was in the US, and for individual species, the numbers were far more staggering. Comparing European brown bears with the grizzly bear populations in the US, the study found that the estimated 17,000 brown bears (Ursus horribilus, which is the same species as North America's grizzly bears) had an abundance more than 10 times that of their North American counterparts. And the data on wolves was even far more troubling.
Placing a great emphasis on the legal protections enacted by the European Union, in particular the EU Habitats Directive that acts much like the US' Endangered Species Act, the new study revealed the efficacy of the policies put in place. And they also found that European nations outside of the European Union, such as Switzerland and Norway who are exempt from the directive, are falling far shorter in terms of population recovery than other nations within the fold.
"The conservation of large carnivores is a formidable challenge for biodiversity conservation" lead author of the study Guillaume Chapron says. "The reasons for overall conservation success [in the EU} 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."
