Recovery of large carnivores in Europe\u27s modern human-dominated landscapes

The conservation of large carnivores represents a formidable challenge for biodiversity conservation. Using a dataset on the past and current status of brown bears (Ursus arctos), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), grey wolves (Canis lupus), and wolverines (Gulo gulo) in European countries, we show that roughly one-third of mainland Europe hosts at least one large carnivore species, with stable or increasing abundance in most cases in 21st-century records. The reasons for this overall conservation success include protective legislations, supportive public opinion as well as a variety of practices making coexistence between large carnivores and people possible. The European situation reveals that large carnivores and people can successfully share the same landscape