130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

% change
750
600
450
300
150
0
Figure 2.
Change in Red
deer 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 Red deer
in Europe.
Rank Reason for change Description
1 Other – Natural/artificial
recolonisation
2 Species management
– Translocations and
reintroductions
increases. These are managed mainly for landscape
conservation and recreation, rather than stricter
wilderness protection, and it is therefore likely
that this effect reflects the absence of top level
predators, which would keep populations in check
naturally.
In areas where Red deer had previously been
exterminated, natural recolonisation (e.g. former
Yugoslavia [3] , Switzerland [16] , Portugal [19] and
Italy [20] ), reintroductions (e.g. Portugal [19] , Spain [49] ,
central Italy [3] , Sweden [3] , Slovenia [3] and the Baltic
states [15] ) and farm escapes (e.g. Denmark [42] ) are
considered to be the main reasons for the re-establishment
of populations (Table 3). Other contributing
factors include improved hunting regulations
and protection (e.g. Norway [12] , Romania [3] ,
Bulgaria [3] , Poland [3] , Slovenia [17] , Hungary [3] ,
Recolonisation of former Yugoslavia from Hungary
through removal of fence [3] .
Recolonisation of Switzerland from Austria [3, 16] .
Recolonisation of Italian Alps from Austria,
Switzerland and Slovenia [3, 5, 20] .
Recolonisation of Portugal from Spain [19, 26] .
Recolonisation from farm escapes in Denmark [42] .
Translocations and reintroductions because of
importance of species as game [5] , e.g. in Portugal [19] ,
Spain [49] , central Italy [3] , Sweden [3] , the Baltic
states [15] , Slovenia [3] and Bulgaria [3] .
3 Legislation Legal protection in Slovenia [17] , Hungary [3] , Italy [3]
and Austria [3] .
4 Species management
– Changes in hunting
practice
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000–05 1960–2005
5 Land/water protection &
management – Habitat
provisioning
6 Other – Reduction of
predators and competitors
Permit system and selective culling in Norway [12] ,
temporary suspension of hunting in Romania and
Bulgaria [3] and hunting management in Poland [3] .
Establishment of conifer plantations in western
Norway [12] , Denmark [3] , Poland and the UK [3] and
increased timber extraction in Poland [3] .
Land use change including a reduction in sheep
grazing and reforestation was beneficial in
Scotland [55] .
Land abandonment (primarily from marginal
grazing land) in Switzerland, northern Italy and
Slovenia [3] .
Reduction of natural predators such as the Grey
wolf in Bulgaria [3] .
Reduction in sheep numbers in the UK [3] and alpine
Italy [3] .
Italy [3] , Austria [3] ), and improvement of habitat
quality and area (e.g. Norway [12] , Denmark [3] and
the UK [3] ). For example, land use change, i.e.
the reduction in sheep grazing and the subsequent
reforestation, aided the expansion of the
species in Scotland [55] . Land abandonment was
also beneficial in Switzerland, northern Italy and
Slovenia [3] ). In addition, the reduction of predators
and livestock competitors played a role [3] . In some
areas, however, populations have not yet returned
to their former extent, either due to population
management for the purposes of reducing forestry
damage from bark stripping (e.g. Sweden [13] ), or
confinement of the species to specific areas by law
(e.g. Germany [43] ).
Recent developments
A recent update of the Red List of Threatened
Mammals in Greece lists the Red deer as Critically
Endangered due to the prominent threat of
illegal hunting [58] , while in Sweden the resident
subspecies C. e. elaphus is now considered Near
Threatened [59] .
Due to a large body weight of around 100 kg,
Red deer represent the most important ungulate
species in Europe in terms of biomass [9] , and are
therefore an important resource for humans.
Harvest levels, much like abundance, have been on
the increase [60] , and because of the species’ cultural
and economic importance, it is unlikely that this
trend will be reversed in the near future. However,
overabundance of the cervid in parts of its range
may require stricter population management
due to increases in deer-forestry conflict, its
negative effect on the re-establishment of native
woodland [61, 62] and the resulting conflict between
stakeholders [63, 64] . Significant management is
already in place in many countries, for example
Sweden, where the species has not yet recovered to
its historic range [13] . From a wildlife conservation
perspective, however, the increase in Red deer and
other ungulates has facilitated the comeback of
top-level predators in Europe [65] , and reintroductions
of carnivores are usually only considered in
areas where these prey are particularly abundant,
e.g. Scotland [66] .
Our knowledge about the distribution of natural
lineages of the Red deer have improved noticeably
over the past decade, and the conservation of the
genetic identity of the species in Europe is likely
to become an important issue in the future, both
because of mixing of distinct sub-species [31, 32] and
hybridization with the non-native Sika deer [28–30] .
Projects re-establishing Red deer across Europe
need to take into consideration the known genetic
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