130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Scale Status Population trend Justification Threats
Global
[10]
Least Concern Stable N/A 1. Low population size
2. Conflict (depredation/raiding of beehives & crops,
straying into settlements)
3. Road and train track collisions
4. Illegal poaching
5. Over-harvesting
6. Fragmentation and degradation of habitat
Europe
(incl. Russia)
[11]
Least Concern Stable Wide range
Large population size
1. Habitat loss due to infrastructure
2. Development
3. Disturbance
4. Low acceptance
5. Poor management structures
6. Intrinsic factors
7. Accidental mortality and persecution
[7]
Europe –
regional
populations
Critically
Endangered:
Alpine,
Apennine,
Cantabrian,
Pyrenean
Vulnerable:
Dinaric-Pindos,
Carpathian,
Balkan
Least Concern:
Scandinavian,
Karelian, Baltic
Strong increase:
Karelian,
Scandinavin
Increase: Baltic,
Dinaric-Pindos,
Cantabrian,
Pyrenean
Stable : Carpathian,
Alpine, Apennine
Stable or decrease:
Eastern Balkans
[7]
Small population size leading to
compromised long-term viability
[11]
N/A
[7]
regions with high levels of human-bear conflict.
As a result, the remaining European Brown bears
occur in forested, mountainous areas where,
although widespread, four out of ten populations
are small and localised [2, 6] .
Habitat preferences and general densities
The species is adaptable to environmental conditions,
and previously occupied a range of habitats
including deciduous and coniferous forest, steppes
and northern and alpine tundra [1] . Now most of
its former range is unsuitable because of human
habitat alteration and presence, and the species
is found mostly in forested, mountainous areas
with low human activity [1] . Overall, bears require
large, continuous habitat with sufficient preferred
food, escape cover, suitable den sites and low
human disturbance [1] . Like many carnivores, the
Brown bear occurs at low densities especially at
the northern limit of its range [1] . Figures range
from 0.5 bears/1000 km 2 in southeastern Norway
and 20–25 bears/1000 km 2 in central Sweden to
100–200 bears/1000 km 2 in Romania [1] .
Legal protection and conservation status
The Brown bear is protected under the pan-European
Habitats Directive [7] , and there are national
level conservation measures in place to support
populations [8] . These include the establishment
of protected areas and various hunting regulations
[8] . Countries with limited culls by hunters
include Sweden, Finland, Romania, Estonia,
Bulgaria, Slovenia and Slovakia [7] . Other governments
manage the carnivore as a game species
with limits decided following the rules of the Bern
Convention, e.g. Croatia and Norway [7] .
Common management measures include
erection of fencing in areas vulnerable to human
conflict issues (e.g. agricultural areas and beehives),
reintroductions and population augmentations
(e.g. Italian Alps, Austria and France), protection
from poaching, limiting public access to core
areas, and public education programmes and
scientific research [9] . The Brown bear is covered
by management or action plans or a species-specific
strategy in most countries [7] , and there are
compensation schemes in place throughout the
continent [7] . Both at a global and European level,
the Brown bear is listed as Least Concern with a
stable population trend due to its wide geographic
range and large population size (Table 1). Within
Europe, the species’ status varies by population,
with some thought to be Critically Endangered or
Vulnerable (Table 1).
All in all, recent abundance trends are increasing
or stable, although a decrease is suspected in the
Eastern Balkans (Table 1). A number of threats affect
the bear at the global and European level (Table 1).
Table 1.
Summary of Global
and European Red
List assessments and
threats listed for the
Brown bear.
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