Management of European mammals

In this chapter, we aim to provide an introduction to strategies, policy, and law regarding the management of mammals in Europe. Covering this extensive and complex topic in one concise chapter is no easy task, and we pretend no more than to scratch the surface. We begin by offering a bird’s-eye view of some salient features concerning mammal policy and law in Europe, namely, (1) the sheer diversity of approaches; (2) the overall dominance of the paradigm of human-wildlife coexistence; (3) the influence and sophistication of international legal frameworks for wildlife conservation; and (4) the issues raised by the remarkable recent comeback of many large animal species, including large carnivores. Subsequently, we introduce two of the international frameworks in some detail, i.e., the pan-European Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats of 1979 (Bern Convention) and the wildlife legislation of the European Union (EU). We then discuss an interesting but challenging approach that has been emerging with regard to wildlife populations that are shared amongst several European countries, such as large carnivores. This approach consists of adjusting management to the scale of each wildlife population – including where this population is transboundary – rather than adjusting it to the scale of countries or other jurisdictional units.