130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Scale Status Population trend Justification Threats
Global
[3]
Least Concern Increasing Widespread
Common
1. Genetic mixing as a result of translocations
2. Poaching (C. c italicus)
No major threats
3. Predation by feral dogs (C. c. italicus)
3. Habitat loss (Syria)
Europe (EU25)
[15]
Least Concern Increasing Widespread
Common
1. Genetic mixing as a result of translocations
2. Poaching (C. c italicus)
No major threats
3. Predation by feral dogs (C. c. italicus)
Europe –
regional
populations
[16]
Least Concern:
France
N/A N/A N/A
habitat loss and hunting pressure. Management
interventions started the recovery of the species
during the 1800s, which accelerated in the subsequent
century [9] . During the second half of the
20 th century, European populations increased
and stabilised in western and central Europe [2] ,
while little distributional change occurred in
other parts of eastern central Europe, e.g. Poland
and the Czech Republic [10, 11] . In addition, numbers
have been strongly controlled in areas with a high
density of natural predators, e.g. Poland [10] . The
deer is now present across all of mainland Europe,
although its distribution is patchier in the far
south, e.g. in Italy, Spain and Portugal. While it
occurs in most of Great Britain (England, Scotland
and Wales), it is absent from the other large
islands of Europe, e.g. Ireland, Sardinia, Corsica,
Sicily, Cyprus and Iceland [12] .
Habitat preferences and general densities
Roe deer occurs in a wide variety of habitats [6] ,
including forests, moorlands, pastures, arable
land and suburban areas [3] , although densities are
highest in woodland-field mixtures or woodland
with clearings [13] because these provide both food
and cover in close proximity [5] . It is considered
one of the best-adapted species for cultivated
land [2, 7] . Population density is normally 15–25
individuals per km 2 in central Europe, but up to
60–70 deer have been recorded in good quality
habitat [5] .
Legal protection and conservation status
The Roe deer is listed on Appendix III of the Bern
Convention [14] , and many of its populations are
found in protected areas [3] . The species is heavily
managed through hunting, culling and supplementary
winter feeding, although management
plans differ considerably between countries [13] .
Because it is widespread and common with
an increasing population trend, the species is
considered to be Least Concern on the IUCN Red
List, both globally [3] and within Europe [15] , as well
as within France [16] (Table 1). Despite this, a number
of threats remain: in Europe, this is primarily
the mixing of genetically distinct sub-species
due to translocations [3] , but over-exploitation
through hunting (specifically the small remaining
population of C. c. italicus), and habitat degradation
and loss (e.g. the remnant Syrian population [3] ) also
play a role.
Abundance and distribution:
current status
While no reliable global estimate of Roe deer
population size exists, the European population
is believed to consist of at least 9.8 million
individuals (Table 2). Around 47% of these occur in
the countries situated in the centre of the species’
range, namely Germany (24%), France (12%) and
Austria (11%) (Table 2).
With an estimated size of around 2.4 million
individuals, the largest population of Roe deer is
found in Germany. Its history here has been varied,
going from an abundant cervid when hunting
rights were reserved for aristocrats and clergymen,
to near extinction after farmers were given equal
hunting rights in the wake of the 1848 revolution [20] .
Following extensive recovery, the species is now
abundant and present throughout the country up
to the upper forest line at 1,800 m in the Alps [20] ,
although the highest densities occur in areas
comprising a mosaic of forest and meadows [20] . As
one of the staple quarries for hunters [20] , more than
one million individuals have been shot annually in
recent years [36] . Another major source of mortality
are vehicle collisions, with an estimated 170,000
deer killed on German roads in 2011/2012, thus
accounting for around 88% of reported collisions
involving ungulates [37] . Fawn mortality is
often high due to early mowing for silage and an
increasing fox population [20] .
As the most abundant ungulate in France, the
Roe deer population is 1.2 million individuals
strong and occurs in 90% of the country with
the exception of the Mediterranean island
Table 1.
Summary of Global
and European Red
List assessments and
threats listed for the
Roe deer.
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