RETURN OF THE PREDATOR

Europe’s large carnivores have endured a turbulent history. Homo sapiens arrived in Eurasia some 40,000 years ago. Bloodthirsty, intelligent and armed with flintheaded spears, they quickly dispatched Europe’s cave bears, sabretooths, hyenas and cave lions, leaving only wolves, bears and lynx to roam European forests. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, agricultural and industrial upscaling saw carnivore habitats converted to farmland, while intense persecution saw populations drop precipitously. However, by the mid-20th century, new legislation, improved forest policy and rural–urban migration by humans saw their fortunes turn. Today, European carnivores are on the up once more.

As we re-evaluate our relationship with the natural world, ‘rewilding’ has become a popular environmental philosophy, reinvigorating the public’s interest in conservation. Europe is dotted with rewilding projects, each aiming to restore lost ecosystem functions, helping nature become self-regulating once again. Rewilding Europe, a network of land management and conservation initiatives, has amassed some 61 rewilding projects, protecting five million hectares of land. Central to their activity is the restoration of predation. In the Central Apennines region in Italy, Rewilding Europe is establishing ‘coexistence corridors’ to diffuse tensions between locals and vulnerable populations of brown bears and wolves. Further west, in Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley, abandoned rural land is being converted into ecological corridors for fragile and disconnected wolf populations.

And yet, the carnivore question ignites a broader debate. Is the reversion to ‘wilder nature’ an impossible fallacy in the modern European context, or is the philosophy inherently more forward-thinking than the name might suggest? Next month, we take a look at some of Europe’s largest rewilding projects and discuss both sides of the carnivore debate.