130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Figure 1a.
Distribution of
Northern chamois in
1955 [21] and 2008 [1] .
Please note that the
1955 distribution
represents an
over-estimation of
the species’ actual
range.
Figure 1b. Map
highlighting areas
of range expansion,
persistence and
contraction of the
Northern chamois
in Europe between
1955 and 2008. Please
note that contraction
observed from 1955
to 2008 is likely to
be an artefact of the
difference in map
resolution.
Mountains in Poland and Slovakia. As discussed
in the literature, declines here are believed to be
the result of altered age structure and sex ratio
induced by selective shooting, severe weather
conditions, human disturbance through tourism
and air traffic, predation and parasitism [11] . The
recovery in Northern chamois between 2000 and
2005 (Figure 2) can be attributed to change in
management decisions in the Tatra population,
specifically the adoption of strict anti-poaching
measures [22] (Table 3). Despite this positive development,
a further increase is not expected in
Nítzke Tatry National Park, where the species was
reintroduced between 1969 and 1976 [22] , because
of insufficient habitat and predation by Eurasian
lynx (Lynx lynx), Grey wolf (Canis lupus) and Golden
eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) [22] .
In addition to the factors affecting population
abundance change in our data set of Northern
chamois discussed above, reintroductions have
been key in the reestablishment of populations in
Central Europe [6] . Other concerted conservation
measures, including a shooting moratorium,
the setting of strict harvest quota, removal and
control of Red deer (Cervus elaphus) and Mouflon
and limiting livestock grazing, have helped the
Chartreuse chamois (R. r. cartusiana) recover to
over 770 individuals by 1997 [16] , although food
competition remains an issue [16] . Research has also
shown a higher population density of chamois in
53