🐻 Wild predators make successful comeback in Europe

🐻 Wild predators make successful comeback in Europe

The Iberian lynx, which 25 years ago had fewer than 100 individuals left, has now recovered and its status has changed from "critically endangered" to "vulnerable." Brown bears have increased by 17% to 20,500, Eurasian lynx by 12% to 9,400, and wolverines by 16% to 1,300 since 2016.

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  • The number of wolves in Europe has increased by 35 percent to 23,000 individuals.
  • The Iberian lynx, which 25 years ago had fewer than 100 individuals left, has now recovered and its status has changed from "critically endangered" to "vulnerable."
  • Several predators show positive development - brown bears have increased by 17 percent to 20,500, Eurasian lynx by 12 percent to 9,400, and wolverines by 16 percent to 1,300 since 2016.

Conservation measures yield results

The conservation measures introduced several decades ago have now begun to take effect. Particularly successful is the recovery of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). Twenty-five years ago, fewer than a hundred of these feline predators remained in their last refuge in southern Spain. At that time, the Iberian lynx was the most endangered cat species on the planet.

Saving the lynx required extensive political action and investment, including the introduction of laws in Andalusia to stop landowners' indiscriminate snare-laying. An intensive PR campaign was conducted to convince hunting estate owners to appreciate the lynx. Initially, 33 million euros (28.5 million pounds) were invested to finance conservation, followed by further investments to reintroduce the lynx to other parts of Spain and Portugal, with the majority of funding from the EU.

Challenges with growing predator populations

While the increase in predators is positive from a conservation perspective, it also creates challenges in living near these animals. Researchers advocate more flexible strategies that involve local people to design the best policies for handling predators in specific places.

A system that exaggerates the damage caused by predators can lead to unnecessary and controversial culls, while a system that underestimates the problems can cause unfair hardship for local people by blocking the compensation they deserve for damage caused by predators.

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