Key actions for Large Carnivore populations in Europe January, 2015 2 Key actions for Large Carnivore populations in Europe Prepared for DG Environment, European Commission, by Istituto Ecologia Applicata, Rome under contract no. 07.0307/2013/654446/SER/B3 "Support to the European Commission's policy on large carnivores under the Habitat Directive - Phase Two”, with contributions from the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (SSC/IUCN) Istituto di Ecologia Applicata Via B. Eustachio 10 – IT 00161 Rome January 2015 3 This document is the final product of: Task 1 of contract ENV.B.3/SER/2013/003 Support to the European Commission’s policy on Large Carnivores under the Habitats Directive – Phase 2 Coordination: Luigi Boitani Sections coordinated by: Henrik Andren (5), Luigi Boitani (3), Djuro Huber (2), John Linnell (1), Urs Breitenmoser and Manuela Von Arx (4). Contributions by: Francisco Alvarez, Ole Anders, Henrik Andren, Elisa Avanzinelli, Vaidas Balys, Juan Carlos Blanco, Luigi Boitani, Urs Breitenmoser, Guillaume Chapron, Paolo Ciucci, Aleksander Dutsov, Claudio Groff, Djuro Huber, Ovidiu Ionescu, Felix Knauer, Ilpo Kojola, Jakub Kubala, Miroslav Kutal, John Linnell, Aleksandra Majic, Peep Mannil, Ralph Manz, Francesca Marucco, Dime Melovski, Anja Molinari, Harri Norberg, Sabina Nowak, Janis Ozolins, Santiago Palazon, Hubert Potocnik, Pierre-Yves Quenette, Ilka Reinhardt, Robin Rigg, Nuria Selva, Agnieszka Sergiel, Maryna Shkvyria, Jon Swenson, Aleksander Trajce, Manuela Von Arx, Manfred Wolfl, Ulrich Wotschikowsky, Diana Zlatanova. Contract management in DG Environment: András Demeter and Marco Cipriani Suggested citation: Boitani, L., F. Alvarez, O. Anders, H. Andren, E. Avanzinelli, V. Balys, J. C. Blanco, U. Breitenmoser, G. Chapron, P. Ciucci, A. Dutsov, C. Groff, D. Huber, O. Ionescu, F. Knauer, I. Kojola, J. Kubala, M. Kutal, J. Linnell, A. Majic, P. Mannil, R. Manz, F. Marucco, D. Melovski, A. Molinari, H. Norberg, S. Nowak, J. Ozolins, S. Palazon, H. Potocnik, P.-Y. Quenette, I. Reinhardt, R. Rigg, N. Selva, A. Sergiel, M. Shkvyria, J. Swenson, A. Trajce, M. Von Arx, M. Wolfl, U. Wotschikowsky, D. Zlatanova, 2015. Key actions for Large Carnivore populations in Europe. Institute of Applied Ecology (Rome, Italy). Report to DG Environment, European Commission, Bruxelles. Contract no. 07.0307/2013/654446/SER/B3 This document has been prepared for the European Commission, however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Cover: Photo composition by Alessandro Montemaggiori 4 Contents SECTION 1: BACKGROUND AND CROSS-CUTTING ACTIONS .......................................................................... 8 1. Background ............................................................................................................................................ 8 2. EU-level LC species action plans with a population-based approach .................................................... 9 3. Pan-European and cross-species priority actions ................................................................................. 10 4. Objectives of the lists of actions ........................................................................................................... 10 5. Cross cutting actions – across species and populations ....................................................................... 11 SECTION 2: BEARS ......................................................................................................................................... 16 PART I........................................................................................................................................................ 16 1.1. Bear Populations in Europe .............................................................................................................. 16 1.2 Status ................................................................................................................................................. 17 1.3 Legal status and management .......................................................................................................... 18 1.4 Threats ............................................................................................................................................... 19 1.5 Conflicts and conflict management ................................................................................................... 19 PART II – Actions relevant for all bear populations .................................................................................. 19 PART III - SPECIFIC ACTIONS FOR EACH BEAR POPULATION .................................................................... 28 1. Alpine population ............................................................................................................................... 28 2. Apennine population ........................................................................................................................... 30 3. East Balkan population ........................................................................................................................ 32 4. Baltic population ................................................................................................................................. 33 5. Cantabrian population......................................................................................................................... 34 6. Carpathian population......................................................................................................................... 36 7. Dinaric-Pindos population ................................................................................................................... 39 8. Finnish-Karelian population ................................................................................................................ 40 9. Pyrenees Mountains population ......................................................................................................... 41 10. Scandinavian population ................................................................................................................... 43 SECTION 3: WOLVES ..................................................................................................................................... 46 PART I........................................................................................................................................................ 46 1.1 Populations ........................................................................................................................................ 46 1.2 Status ................................................................................................................................................. 47 1.3 Legal status and management .......................................................................................................... 48 5 1.4 Threats ............................................................................................................................................... 48 1.5 Conflicts and conflict management ................................................................................................... 48 PART II – Actions for all populations ........................................................................................................ 49 PART III - SPECIFIC ACTIONS FOR EACH POPULATION .............................................................................. 58 1. Alpine population ................................................................................................................................ 58 2. Baltic population ................................................................................................................................. 60 3. Carpathian population......................................................................................................................... 62 4. Central European lowlands population ............................................................................................... 63 5. Dinara-Balkan population .................................................................................................................... 65 6. Italian Peninsula population ................................................................................................................ 67 7. Finnish-Karelian population ................................................................................................................ 69 8. North-Western Iberia Population........................................................................................................ 71 9. Scandinavian population ..................................................................................................................... 75 10. Sierra Morena population ................................................................................................................. 76 SECTION 4: LYNX ........................................................................................................................................... 80 PART I – Eurasian lynx populations in Europe .......................................................................................... 80 1.1 Populations ........................................................................................................................................ 80 1.2 Status ................................................................................................................................................