130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

% change
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Figure 2.
Change in Alpine
ibex population
abundance by
decade and overall
change between
1960 and 2005. Please
note that due to the
way change was
calculated, decadal
change does not sum
to overall change.
Table 3.
Major reasons for
positive change in the
status of the Alpine
ibex in Europe.
action between the two variables [7] . Deeper snow
is associated with a larger number of avalanches,
which may bring with them a higher risk of
mortality [4] . However, it is likely that animals are
simply more likely to starve in deep snow due to
lack of food [15] .
While the historic decline of the species to one
remnant population is thought to have been entirely
down to over-exploitation and poaching [18] , its
recent recovery has been attributed to a four-stage
conservation effort [4] : effective protection of the
remaining population, captive breeding, reintroduction
of captive-bred individuals, and translocation
of animals from the reservoir populations
to uninhabited sites. Perhaps as a result, some
populations have reached high numbers so that
culling initiatives are advocated by some managers
to keep populations at what they perceive to be a
sustainable size, thus resulting in little or no change
in abundance [7] . Density-dependent regulation may
also be taking place [7] .
Recent Developments
Despite the positive change in population
abundance and more recent expansion into new
areas, there have also been a number of set-backs
in the recovery of the Alpine ibex, most of which
relate to disease (Table 3). After a number of
Rank Reason for change Description
1 Legislation The Alpine ibex is listed on Appendix III of the Bern
Convention [8] , Annex V of the EU Habitats and
Species Directive [9] , and is protected by national
legislation in most countries within its range [2] .
2 Species management –
Captive breeding,
reintroduction and
translocation
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000–05 1960–2005
Switzerland: the ibex has experienced a number of
reintroductions following the first success in the
Swiss National Park in 1920 [14] .
France: reintroduction to the Vercors area in the
Western Alps [17] , and translocation of animals from
the reservoir population to uninhabited sites.
3 Other – Seasonal changes Gran Paradiso: low snow depth in mild winters
leads to increased adult survival as well as a
possible positive affect on recruitment [7] .
keratoconjunctivitis outbreaks associated with
Mycoplasma conjunctivae in Switzerland and
other Mycoplasma species in Italy, a new, atypical
strain (Mycoplasma agalactiae) of unknown origin
has emerged and disseminated in the species in
France, leading to large-scale mortality events [19] .
The species has also been found to be susceptible
to brucellosis transmitted by domestic sheep [20] .
There have also been recurring outbreaks of
sarcoptic mange, e.g. in the Marmolada massif
in the eastern Italian Alps in 2003/4, when 3 out
of 5 individuals died, and again from 2009/10 [21] .
The disease caused a sharp decrease in the
survival of both sexes and all age classes during
the first outbreak, with a higher mortality rate
for senescent males, while survival was high in
the following years. Future management of the
disease may indeed involve the use of detector
dogs, which have been shown to identify successfully
mange-infected animals to allow for the
rapid removal and treatment of carcasses and
sick animals [22] . While winter harshness did not
contribute to explaining the high mortality
observed in Marmolada [21] , it is often assumed
to be a factor in survival [15] . Conversely, however,
low snow cover was associated with a decline in
the Gran Paradiso National Park population of
ibex [23] . This is because although rapid change in
vegetation resulting from earlier, climate-induced
green-up will translate into higher productivity,
it also shortens the period in which high-quality
forage is available over a large spatial scale [23] ,
making climate change a serious future threat for
this range-restricted species.
On the other hand, the species continues to be
a great media focus. In 2011, Switzerland celebrated
the centenary of the reintroduction of the species
into the Weißtannen Valley using descendants of
individuals that had been stolen from the King
of Italy and smuggled over the Swiss border [24] .
This celebration was marked by a range of events,
as well as the release of more individuals into the
reserve [25] . In France, a total of 30 individuals were
released into the Hauts de Chartreuse National
Nature reserve in 2010 and 2011 [26, 27] . Three kids
were born following the 2010 release [27] , and
with ongoing reintroductions [27] and extensive
management (a climbing route was created for
individuals trapped on a ledge because these represented
18% of the local population [28] ), the future
is looking bright for this new population. Indeed,
the Alpine ibex as a whole has been able to make
a remarkable recovery throughout its distribution,
and although it has not been able to recolonise all
of its historical range, with further protection and
intervention, there is no reason to assume that it
will not continue to fare well in the future.
36