130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Country No. of breeding pairs Year Trend %
Austria 14–17 [19] 2012 +
Belarus 85–105 [20] 2002 ? 1
Bosnia and Herzegovina 5–10 [21] 2012 –
Bulgaria 15 [6] 2010 +
Croatia 150 [6] 2008 + 2
Czech Republic 95–100 [22] 2013 + 1
Denmark 31 [15] 2010 +
Estonia 220–250 [23] 2012 + 2
Finland 294 [12] 2007 + 3
Germany 630–660 [6] 2010 + 7
Greece 6 [24] 2009 Stable
Hungary 250 [25] 2012 + 3
Iceland 53 [26] 2002 ? 1
Republic of Ireland 10 [27] 2011 +
Latvia 80–100 [28] 2012 + 1
Lithuania 100–150 [29] 2012 + 1
Moldova 2–3 [30] 2010 ?
Netherlands 4 [31] 2013 +
Norway 3,500–4,000 [32] 2010 + 39
Poland 1,250–1,700 [33] 2012 + 15
Romania 37–42 [6] 2010 +
Russia 500 [2] 2000 ? 15
Serbia 115 [34] 2009 + 1
Slovakia 9 [35] 2012 +
Slovenia 8–11 [36] 2012 +
Sweden 533–600 [37] 2012 + 6
Ukraine 100–120 [38] 2009 + 1
United Kingdom 59 [39] 2012 + 1
Distribution:
current status and changes
White-tailed eagle distribution underwent severe
range contractions from mid-19th until mid- to
late 20 th century [2, 6, 42, 43] . Recovery is evident in
a number of countries [44] , including the Czech
Republic [13] , Denmark [45] , Finland [46] , Germany [47] ,
Norway [32] , Poland [48, 49] and Sweden [50, 51] and there is
evidence of a westward range expansion. However,
a retraction is apparent in the Balkan Peninsula and
Russia (Figure 2), although the species range in these
regions may have been overestimated in the past [52] .
Major threats
The declines experienced by the European
population of White-tailed eagles during the 19th
and early 20th centuries were caused mainly
by persecution [1, 2, 12, 16, 44] . Severe crashes in Whitetailed
eagle populations took place until the 1970s,
attributed to bioaccumulation of organochlorine
pesticides, such as DDT and PCB [2, 12, 55, 56] . Pollution
caused by these chemicals resulted in breeding
failure [51, 55, 57] . The populations surrounding the
Baltic Sea were most severely affected, as pollution
levels were very high in the region. In contrast,
the Norwegian population, which utilises food
resources from the northern Atlantic, was not as
badly affected [57] .
Table 2.
Latest White-tailed
eagle population
estimates in Europe,
indicating those
countries that hold
at least 1% of the
European population.
Figure 2.
Current distribution
of White-tailed
eagle in Europe and
historical distribution
in the 1950s [40] and
1980s [41] .
224