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130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

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dramatically by the 1950s, when breed<strong>in</strong>g spoonbills<br />

were found only <strong>in</strong> the Netherlands and southern<br />

Spa<strong>in</strong> (Figure 3). These two regions cont<strong>in</strong>ue to<br />

dom<strong>in</strong>ate the Atlantic population today [3] , but it is<br />

evident that substantial recovery has taken place<br />

s<strong>in</strong>ce. Recolonisation has taken place on the west<br />

coast of France <strong>in</strong> the early 1980s, <strong>in</strong> Germany and<br />

Denmark from the mid-1990s, and <strong>in</strong> Belgium from<br />

2000 [3, 14, 29] (Figure 3). In the UK the first breed<strong>in</strong>g<br />

colony of spoonbills <strong>in</strong> more than three centuries<br />

became established <strong>in</strong> 2010 [21] . The cont<strong>in</strong>ental<br />

population is also recover<strong>in</strong>g from historical<br />

decl<strong>in</strong>es [3] . The colonies <strong>in</strong> the Po Delta <strong>in</strong> Italy, for<br />

example, became established around 1990 [13] .<br />

No. of breed<strong>in</strong>g pairs<br />

7000<br />

6000<br />

5000<br />

4000<br />

3000<br />

2000<br />

1000<br />

0<br />

1954<br />

1957<br />

1960<br />

1963<br />

1966<br />

1969<br />

1972<br />

1975<br />

1978<br />

1981<br />

1984<br />

1987<br />

1990<br />

1993<br />

1996<br />

1999<br />

2002<br />

2005<br />

2008<br />

2011<br />

Major threats<br />

Loss of wetland habitat through water management<br />

was the ma<strong>in</strong> cause of the severe decl<strong>in</strong>es that<br />

Eurasian spoonbills suffered historically [3, 14, 16] .<br />

Wetlands were dra<strong>in</strong>ed for agricultural purposes or<br />

development, converted to fish farms, or became<br />

overgrown as a result of abandonment of graz<strong>in</strong>g [3] .<br />

Poach<strong>in</strong>g and collisions with overhead<br />

electricity cables are the ma<strong>in</strong> non-natural causes<br />

of death dur<strong>in</strong>g migration [3] . Illegal hunt<strong>in</strong>g is<br />

a particular problem for cont<strong>in</strong>ental Eurasian<br />

spoonbills, especially <strong>in</strong> stag<strong>in</strong>g areas between<br />

w<strong>in</strong>ter<strong>in</strong>g and breed<strong>in</strong>g sites [3] .<br />

Drivers of recovery<br />

All major breed<strong>in</strong>g sites for Eurasian spoonbills<br />

<strong>in</strong> the Atlantic and most <strong>in</strong> the cont<strong>in</strong>ental<br />

distributions have been given protected status [3] .<br />

Protection and management of wetland habitats<br />

is the major driver beh<strong>in</strong>d the recovery of the<br />

Atlantic Eurasian spoonbills [14] .<br />

Figure 2.<br />

Number of Eurasian<br />

spoonbill breed<strong>in</strong>g<br />

pairs <strong>in</strong> the Atlantic<br />

flyway population<br />

s<strong>in</strong>ce 1991 and <strong>in</strong> the<br />

Dutch population<br />

s<strong>in</strong>ce 1962 [16, 17] .<br />

Figure 3. Current distribution of Eurasian spoonbill colonies <strong>in</strong> Europe, show<strong>in</strong>g the area of breed<strong>in</strong>g distribution of the Atlantic flyway<br />

population <strong>in</strong> the 1800s and 1950s [14] . Current Atlantic flyway and Cont<strong>in</strong>ental flyway are also shown.<br />

189

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