Species in the Alps region

The large carnivores are slowly returning to the Alps. Some of them have made their appearances in a totally natural way. For some other reintroduction projects helped a great deal.

The bearded vulture is once again elegantly circling in the alpine sky and reproduces regularly in Italy. 

The brown bear can be seen roaming the eastern Alps where the Adamello Brenta last surviving population managed to survive and even grow mostly thanks to the arrival of new individuals. From there it is believed that the brown bear may cross over into Switzerland.

As is the case of the wolf and the lynx, most problems will arise in connection with potential damage to livestock. The wolf has found its way from the Apennines (where it never completely disappeared and was able to recover in recent years) to the western and central Alps where its presence has sparked some controversy in relation to the alleged attacks on sheep. Recently a Swiss proposal to lower the degree of protection enjoyed by the wolf under the Bern Convention was thwarted (at least temporarily). A proposal by the WWF European Alpine Programme to start monitoring the wolf population was accepted by the Bern Convention Standing Committee.

Last but not least, the elusive lynx somehow appears out of nowhere, just to disappear again. The lynx was utterly wiped-out after being savagely hunted down in the course of the last two centuries. Now it's been reintroduced in the Alps but its presence is far from assured.

These may be good signs, but are nothing to be complacent about.

In most areas of the Alps the above-mentioned animal populations are not viable and face a determined and a human opposition, which is sometimes nothing short of ferocious.

The return of large predators to our densely populated region represents a big challenge. The only probability of success lies in an immense effort at sensitising and informing the population at large WWF commits itself not only to the preservation of the large carnivores, but also strives to protect the otter and the beaver, species that were once abounding in Europe and are now on the verge of extinction.