130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Figure 1a.
Distribution of
Eurasian lynx in
1800 [4] , 1960 [4, 16] and
2010 [5] .
Figure 1b.
Map highlighting
areas of range
expansion,
persistence and
contraction of
the Eurasian lynx in
Europe between 1960
and 2010.
(southern Latvia, Lithuania, rest of Belarus, Poland,
Ukraine and Kaliningrad) [8, 11] . Trends are believed
to be stable despite being hunted [8] . The highly
fragmented populations in the south are a major
concern [8] , as they are threatened through limited
opportunities for gene exchange [12] . With the Baltic
Large Carnivore Initiative cross-border network
between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, created
in 2000 [8, 10] , a first step towards trans-boundary
action was taken.
The Balkan population is estimated at less
than 50 individuals and occupies a highly
fragmented range of less than 6,000 km 2 [2] , and is
therefore of the greatest conservation concern [6] .
Genetic analyses have shown that it differs
from the nearest neighbouring Carpathian lynx
population [13] , and it is thus considered a rare
subspecies [14, 15] . Threats include limited prey base,
illegal killing, wood extraction and infrastructure
development [10] .
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