130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

% change
80
60
40
20
0
and Italy [23] . Lastly, extreme weather can have a
negative impact on chamois numbers [24] .
Overall, both our analysis and the general
literature suggest a beneficial effect of protection,
conservation management measures such as the
reduction of competition from other ungulates,
and adequate hunting quota. On the other hand,
over-exploitation and disease are associated with
population decreases.
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1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000–05 1960–2005
Recent developments
Figure 2.
Change in Northern
chamois 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.
Error bars could not
be calculated for this
species.
areas of hunting prohibition compared to hunted
areas, for example in the National Park of Ecrins
in the French Alps, the National Park of Ordes in
the Pyrenees and Grand Paradiso in Italy [17] . In
addition, sarcoptic mange, a contagious infestation
of the burrowing mite [2] , which causes
scabies in the Northern chamois and was first
described in Bavaria and Styria at the beginning
of the 19 th century [2] , is believed to be the one
disease to have had the most severe impact on
populations, thus presenting a threat to conservation
[2] . It causes high mortality of up to 80%
and is now most widespread in Austria, Slovenia
Although the Northern chamois has been able
to recover both in terms of distribution and
abundance, the species is still subject to a variety
of threats throughout its range. These include
poaching and over-exploitation [9, 11] , human disturbance
(for example through tourism) [9, 11] , competition
with livestock and introduced species (only
applicable to vulnerable subspecies excluding
R. r. rupicapra), habitat loss (mostly applicable
to vulnerable subspecies) [9] , hybridisation [9] ,
disease [1, 9] , and stochastic demographic and
environmental events in subspecies with small
populations [9] . The combination of threats is
different for each of the European subspecies
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