Deeply Political and Populist Decisions on Large Carnivores in Europe in Recent Times

In recent years, debates around downgrading the protection of large carnivores, such as wolves (Canis lupus) or bears (Ursus arctos), have become deeply political, especially in areas where these species are recovering in mainland Europe and North America (Ausband and Mech 2023; Di Bernardi et al. 2...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kutal, Miroslav, Duľa, Martin, Haring, Michal, López-Bao, José V.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/399194
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/399194
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105011172677
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Canis lupus
Evidence-based conservation
Large carnivores
Lethal management
Populism
Urus arctos
Wolf hunting
Descripción
Sumario:In recent years, debates around downgrading the protection of large carnivores, such as wolves (Canis lupus) or bears (Ursus arctos), have become deeply political, especially in areas where these species are recovering in mainland Europe and North America (Ausband and Mech 2023; Di Bernardi et al. 2025). Various viewpoints on lethal control, either by target or non-target removals or through culling by authorities or public hunting schemes, have particularly exacerbated the polarization around large carnivore conservation and are often riddled with biased arguments (e.g., Chapron and López-Bao 2014; Kutal and Dula 2020; Vucetich and Nelson 2014). Livestock depredation is one of the main opposing factors against sharing the landscape with large carnivores. Despite inconclusive results of the effectiveness of current practices of lethal control to prevent livestock depredations (e.g., Eeden et al. 2018; Grente et al. 2024; Kutal et al. 2024), killing large carnivores is still often perceived as an effective strategy to reduce the impact of these species on livestock (Linnell et al. 2017). Lethal control is increasingly proposed as a solution by populist, center-right politicians, as seen recently across Europe (Carter and Guillot 2024). [...]