John Linnell

• Breen, Catherine M.; Odden, John; Linnell, John Durrus; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Rivrud, Inger Maren & Lundquist, Jessica D. [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Diel and seasonal cycles of snow hardness predict changes in activity patterns for roe deer but not mountain hares. Canadian Journal of Zoology. ISSN 0008-4301. 104. doi: 10.1139/cjz-2025-0165. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The resistance of the snow surface to penetration, or snow hardness, is an important factor affecting wildlife movement. Snow hardness can change dramatically over the course of the day, but it is unknown how animals respond to temporal changes in snow hardness. Using 260 hourly sinking depth measurements as indices of surface hardness along a latitudinal gradient in Norway, we quantified diel cycles of snow hardness in relation to environmental variables. Time relative to sunrise and sunset, temperature, canopy cover, and snow density were the best predictors of surface hardness ( R 2  = 0.57). We matched diel cycles of the predicted surface hardness index to diel activity in roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus (Linneaus, 1758)) and mountain hares ( Lepus timidus Linneaus, 1758), using data from the large-scale Scandcam camera-trap network in Norway from 2017 to 2023 ( n = 698 cameras). Roe deer increased morning activity when the snow was harder and deeper, and hares did not show diel shifts in relation to the snow hardness index and preferred softer snow at higher snow depths. As snow conditions and wintertime temperatures continue to change, this study highlights the importance of diel activity adaptations to environmental conditions.

• Srivastava, Nimisha; Sattler, Claudia; Fuerst, Christine; Koenig, Hannes J.; Krishnamurthy, Ramesh & Linnell, John D. C. (2026). Network Intensities and Power Disparities Influence Policy and Governance Outcomes in Large Carnivore Conservation. Sustainability. 18(13). doi: 10.3390/su18136563. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Large carnivore conservation (LCC) presents complex social–ecological challenges in environmental governance, yet limited research has examined how institutional design influences conservation outcomes. This study compares community-based conservation (CBC) in India’s tiger conservation with collaborative governance regimes (CGR) in Germany’s wolf conservation. We conducted a policy-network analysis using Net-Map interviews with formal policy actors involved in LCC governance (India: n = 21. Germany: n = 15). Network structures were analyzed across four tie categories—information-sharing, instructions, influence, and advice—while structural and perceived power distributions were compared across governance levels. Results show that information-sharing dominated governance interactions in both countries, whereas advice ties remained weak. India’s CBC exhibited ties concentrated largely within the forest department administration. Despite stronger local stakeholder integration, social justice framing affected direct inclusivity in policy decisions. Germany’s CGR demonstrated fragmented policy centers with most power concentrated at the German federal state levels. Environmental justice framing allows stronger influence by powerful non-state actors but alienates local stakeholders from policy decisions. Discrepancies between structural and perceived power were evident in both systems, highlighting participation–power disconnects within conservation governance. The findings suggest that effective and sustainable LCC governance requires stronger cross level coordination, institutionalized scientific advice mechanisms, and meaningful inclusion of local stakeholders in policy processes for sustainable LCC.

• Srivastava, Nimisha; Linnell, John Durrus; Sattler, Claudia; Kleemann, Janina; Koenig, Hannes J. & Krishnamurthy, Ramesh [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Claws, laws, and coexistence: The paradox of decentralization in carnivore conservation governance in two federal countries. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability. 11. doi: 10.1016/j.crsust.2026.100361. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The success of large carnivore conservation is unfortunately often associated with increased negative interactions between humans and predators. In cases where conflicts are increasing, a pressing need to reform wildlife governance mechanisms is often recommended. However, comprehensive understanding of existing governance practices remains limited. This study addresses this gap with a systematic comparative analysis of multi-level governance effectiveness in carnivore conservation by examining tiger conservation in India and wolf management in Germany. We developed an analytical framework grounded in multi-level governance theory with a review of 42 legal policy documents and 46 expert interviews. The data was collected between years 2022–2025. Our analysis reveals a critical paradox: decentralized systems exhibit different degrees of operational centralization, fundamentally altering outcomes. India's ‘centralized decentralization’ achieves policy coherence through federal oversight but limits an effective bottom-up management, while Germany's ‘fragmented decentralization’ enables inclusiveness but creates policy inconsistencies. Key findings demonstrate that formal stakeholder participation mechanisms do not guarantee effective governance. Both countries show challenges in translating participatory frameworks into meaningful decision-making, creating collaborative gridlock where institutions seem to limit rather than facilitate consensus-building. Results challenge prevailing assumptions about decentralized conservation governance revealing that success depends on governance coherence, i.e., alignment between vertical coordination through polycentric structure and horizontal integration with network governance features. We suggest a hybrid multi-level governance model as empirically motivated, combining central coordination with meaningful local authority. Findings have immediate implications for carnivore conservation globally. This study advances multi-level governance theory and provides evidence-based recommendations for institutional innovations navigating the complex political ecology of human-carnivore coexistence.

• Liang, Yutong; Mattisson, Jenny; Andren, Henrik; Linnell, John Durrus; Nilsen, Erlend B. & Odden, John [Show all 37 contributors for this article] (2026). Age-specific patterns of reproductive success in wild female Eurasian lynx across Europe. Biology Letters. ISSN 1744-9561. 22(5). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0748. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Reproductive lifespan and age-specific reproductive performance are key life-history traits, shaping individual fitness and population dynamics. Here, we examine age-specific variation in reproductive success in a wild large carnivore, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), using 38 years of longitudinal data from 173 known-age females across Europe and western Asia. Female lynx exhibited age-related reproductive patterns: (i) breeding probability increased with age before declining at older ages, (ii) litter size remained generally stable at two kittens, although it declined to one kitten in older mothers at northern latitudes, and (iii) offspring survival peaked at intermediate female ages, with variation across individuals, years and latitudes. These patterns likely reflect physiological maturation and increased experience (ages 2 to 8), followed by declines due to reproductive and maternal effect senescence in older females. Temporal and latitudinal variations suggest that environmental conditions shape reproductive patterns in Eurasian lynx, with senescence particularly pronounced in resource-scarce environments. Our findings enhance the understanding of age-related reproductive patterns in carnivores across environmental contexts, contributing to life-history theory and improving evidence-based management by accounting for age structure in population forecasting.

• Carpentier, Cecile Agnes Edith; Heurich, Marco Dietmar; Devineau, Olivier; Gimenez, Olivier & Linnell, John D. C. (2026). Adaptive harvesting of two trophic levels stabilises predator–prey dynamics. Simulations with Eurasian lynx and European roe deer. Wildlife Biology. ISSN 0909-6396. doi: 10.1002/wlb3.01628. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Europe has seen the recovery of many species of wild herbivores, which are now widespread across much of the continent. In addition, large carnivores are also recolonising many European countries. Most ungulates are managed through hunting, but natural predation can also have a significant influence in many areas. Therefore, the management of large herbivores must increasingly account for both hunting pressure and the impact of predation. Recent studies suggest that lynx predation can have a significant impact on roe deer population dynamics, both by targeting reproductive individuals and by exerting consistently high predation pressure across a wide range of prey densities. Here, we develop a two‐species predator–prey matrix population model that integrates lynx and roe deer through functional and numerical responses. We test a set of management rules, applied to both prey and predators, to examine whether joint hunting of both species can prevent prey declines and stabilise the population dynamics. Our simulations show that protecting (i.e. not hunting) either species increases the predator population, which in turn leads to a decline in the prey population. Hunting only the prey worsens their fate due to the addition of hunting and predation. However, simultaneous hunting of predators and prey, adaptively regulated through simple heuristics, does help prevent prey declines. We also show that the initial densities of the predator and prey population have significant impact on the outcome of the simulations. The importance of relative predator and prey population densities highlights the need for adaptive harvesting that monitors and adjusts to current predator and prey population levels.

• Franke, Björn H.; Schipper, Aafke M.; Avgar, Tal; Börger, Luca; Chatterjee, Nilanjan & Müller, Thomas [Show all 78 contributors for this article] (2026). Local and Landscape‐Level Environmental Conditions Drive Habitat Selection Across Terrestrial Mammal Species. Global Ecology and Biogeography. ISSN 1466-822X. 35(3). doi: 10.1111/geb.70212. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Aim Animal movements are a fundamental process affecting communities and ecosystems. Quantifying habitat selection across species and habitats is key for understanding how animals respond to environmental change. Currently, we lack comparative studies that examine how habitat selection varies across species traits and landscapes. We aim to quantify global patterns of habitat selection to help understand the fundamental drivers of movement behaviour. Location: Global. Time Period: Contemporary. Major Taxa Studied: Terrestrial mammals. Methods We estimated selection coefficients for terrain ruggedness, vegetation productivity, human population density and distance to roads of individual terrestrial mammals through step‐selection analysis of 1344 GPS tracks across 48 species. We quantified intra‐ and interspecific variation and tested whether selection coefficients were associated with species traits and habitat availability. Results We observe an overall avoidance of roads and areas of high human population density as well as rugged terrain, with a large proportion of individuals selecting for areas of intermediate NDVI. However, we also found large intraspecific variation in habitat selection and show that this variation is predicted by local and landscape‐level environmental conditions rather than species traits. Individuals in more remote areas exhibited weaker functional responses to human presence than those in more disturbed areas. Avoidance of rugged terrain is also context‐dependent, with stronger avoidance when local ruggedness is high. The only exception to the observed intraspecific variability is consistent species‐level responses to road proximity. Main Conclusions Our findings contribute to the understanding of habitat selection by terrestrial mammals, showing that selection is largely shaped by environmental conditions and that animals exhibit high plasticity in their responses. Our results also provide further evidence for the significant impact of roads on animal movement. These insights can help us to understand the potential effects of environmental change on the behaviour of mammal species around the world.

• Linnell, John D. C. (2026). Competing like cats and dogs: Cougars lose their hard-won prey to wolves. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). ISSN 0027-8424. 123(10). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2537201123. Full text in Research Archive
• Liang, Yutong; Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie; Mattisson, Jenny; Belotti, Elisa; Bufka, Luděk & Melovski, Dime [Show all 45 contributors for this article] (2026). Extra-territorial excursions of Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) during the mating season across Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. ISSN 0962-8452. 293(2063). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2025.2235. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Extra-territorial mating excursions (i.e. short-term movements beyond established home ranges to seek mating opportunities) represent an underexplored reproductive strategy in felids. Using telemetry data from 125 Eurasian lynx (172 lynx-years, 1995–2023) across Europe, we investigated sex-specific spatio-temporal patterns and drivers of these excursions during the mating season. Overall, 33% of males and 11% of females undertook excursions, with males having higher rates than females. Male excursions mostly occurred in March, coinciding with the peak of the conception period, while females tended to undertake excursions either before or after this peak. The median Euclidean distance travelled beyond the home range was 6.8 km for males and 2.6 km for females, with corresponding median durations of 119 h and 85 h, respectively. Translocated individuals exhibited higher excursion rates than those in established populations, suggesting mate-searching in novel environments. We found no evidence that human influences affected excursion rates or distances. Our findings highlight a mating tactic that is often overlooked and provide new insight into sex-specific and context-dependent movement strategies in Eurasian lynx. By linking extra-territorial excursions to reproduction patterns, our study informs future research on mate-searching behaviour in felids and offers implications for conservation planning, particularly in isolated or reintroduced populations.

• Jewell, Kyle; Kiffner, Christian; Capelli, Simona; Ciolli, Marco; Martin‐Collado, Daniel & Kaltenborn, Bjørn Petter [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2026). Expanding the life framework of values. People and Nature. 8(3), p. 541–550. doi: 10.1002/pan3.70243. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Conceptualising and organising the range of value orientations and worldviews underpinning human–nature relationships is useful for understanding different, and sometimes conflicting, perspectives on how nature should be managed and working towards just and equitable policies. We test the applicability and current scope of the Life Framework of Values ( living from‐, living in‐, living with‐ and living as‐nature ) by aligning it with pre‐existing literature, drawn heavily from the context of wildlife management and conservation, but with wider relevance. Pre‐existing value categorisations align with the Life Framework of Values in accounting for instrumental, relational and intrinsic values of nature. However, the framework does not account for the multiple ways in which people may be considered as living against‐, living separated from‐ and living disconnected from ‐/ living indifferently to‐nature. By first considering these additional worldviews, we then propose the introduction of a complimentary overarching living apart from nature value frame. We identify three pathways by which people may fall within the living apart from nature frame: (1) loving nature so deeply that you choose to separate yourself from it ( living separated from nature ), (2) disregarding nature to the extent that you are willing to destroy it ( living against nature ) and (3) becoming indifferent or disconnected, a state that can emerge from modern urban lifestyles ( living disconnected from‐/living indifferently to‐nature ). Synthesis and applications . Including the living apart from nature frame to the Life Framework of Values allows for a more realistic and complete view of the diversity of human–nature interactions thus helping it contribute to addressing the global biodiversity crisis and transforming societies towards more sustainable pathways. Future research should focus on empirically testing the extent to which people fit discretely and consistently into Life Frames or worldviews as opposed to simultaneously holding diverse positions on different specific issues. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog

• Fagan, William F.; Krishnan, Ananke G.; Fleming, Christen H.; Ferreira, Elizabeth; Chia, Stephanie & Swain, Anshuman [Show all 179 contributors for this article] (2025). Wild canids and felids differ in their reliance on reused travel routeways. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). ISSN 0027-8424. 122(40). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2401042122. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Diverse factors, including environmental features and cognitive processes, can drive animals’ movements and space use, with far-reaching implications. For example, repeated use of individual-level travel routeways (directionally constrained but imperfectly aligned routes), which results in spatial concentration of activity, can shape encounter-based processes including predation, mate finding, and disease transmission. However, how much variation in routeway usage exists across species remains unknown. By analyzing GPS movement tracks for 1,239 range-resident mammalian carnivores—representing 16 canid and 18 felid species from six continents—we found strong evidence of a clade-level difference in species’ reliance on repeatedly used travel routeways. Across the global dataset, tracked canids had a 15% (±7 CI) greater density of routeways within their home ranges than did felids, rising to 33% (±16 CI) greater in landscapes shared with tracked felids. Moreover, comparisons within species across landscapes revealed broadly similar home range routeway densities despite habitat differences. On average, canids also reused their travel routeways more intensively than did felids, with hunting strategies and spatial contexts also contributing to the intensity of routeway usage. Collectively, our results suggest that key aspects of carnivore routeway-usage have an evolutionary component. Striking interspecific and clade-level differences in carnivores’ reliance on reused travel routeways within home ranges identify important ways in which the movement patterns of real-world predators depart from classical assumptions of predator-prey theory. Because such departures can drive key aspects of human-wildlife interactions and other encounter-based processes, continued investigations of the relationships between movement mechanisms and space use are critical.

• Hewison, Aidan J. Mark; Cagnacci, Francesca; Gaillard, Jean Micheò; Henrich, Maik; Heurich, Marco Dietmar & Kjellander, Petter [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758). In Melletti, Mario & Focardi, Stefano (Ed.), Deer of the World. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783031177569. p. 709–729. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This comprehensive chapter covers various aspects of the biology and natural history of the Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), including names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction, growth and survival, behavior, status in the wild and in captivity. The chapter includes a distribution map, several photos of the species, and a list of key literature.

• Srivastava, Nimisha; Linnell, John Durrus; Krishnamurthy, Ramesh; Koenig, Hannes J. & Fürst, Christine (2025). Beyond kill or no-kill: Institutional analysis of lethal control decision-making in large carnivore management. Ambio. ISSN 0044-7447. doi: 10.1007/s13280-025-02317-3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Countries use lethal control as a tool to respond to human–large carnivore conflicts to varying degrees. The aim of this study was to explore the complexities surrounding the often-controversial decision to lethally manage carnivores. We examined the cases of the tiger ( Panthera tigris ) in India and the wolf ( Canis lupus ) in Germany. This study used an Institutional Analysis and Development framework to analyze contrasting sociopolitical processes. Through a review of legislative documents ( n  = 44) and interviews with experts ( n  = 47), the study examined the intricacies and challenges of the decision-making process and its implementation. While both countries were restrictive in their use of lethal control, decisions were primarily shaped by culturally embedded tolerance thresholds, accountability structures of decision-makers and influential societal factors. The findings demonstrate that effective carnivore management requires careful institutional design balancing scientific evidence with democratic participation

• Allen, Benjamin L.; Abraham, Andrew J.; Arlinghaus, Robert; Belant, Jerrold L.; Blumstein, Daniel T. & Bobier, Christopher [Show all 40 contributors for this article] (2025). Ethical arguments that support intentional animal killing. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 13. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2025.1684894. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Killing animals is a ubiquitous human activity consistent with our predatory and competitive ecological roles within the global food web. However, this reality does not automatically justify the moral permissibility of the various ways and reasons why humans kill animals – additional ethical arguments are required. Multiple ethical theories or frameworks provide guidance on this subject, and here we explore the permissibility of intentional animal killing within (1) consequentialism, (2) natural law or deontology, (3) religious ethics or divine command theory, (4) virtue ethics, (5) care ethics, (6) contractarianism or social contract theory, (7) ethical particularism, and (8) environmental ethics. These frameworks are most often used to argue that intentional animal killing is morally impermissible, bad, incorrect, or wrong, yet here we show that these same ethical frameworks can be used to argue that many forms of intentional animal killing are morally permissible, good, correct, or right. Each of these ethical frameworks support constrained positions where intentional animal killing is morally permissible in a variety of common contexts, and we further address and dispel typical ethical objections to this view. Given the demonstrably widespread and consistent ways that intentional animal killing can be ethically supported across multiple frameworks, we show that it is incorrect to label such killing as categorically unethical. We encourage deeper consideration of the many ethical arguments that support intentional animal killing and the contexts in which they apply.

• Dalpiaz, Naima; Krofel, Miha; Mattisson, Jenny; Vogt, Kristina; Signer, Sven & Oeser, Julian [Show all 18 contributors for this article] (2025). Variability in the movement and foraging behaviour of female Eurasian lynx during the denning season across Europe. Oikos. ISSN 0030-1299. 2025(12). doi: 10.1002/oik.11502. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Animal movement and reproductive behaviour are crucial components of ecological and evolutionary processes. After parturition, the behaviour of reproducing females adapts to the needs of their offspring, including thermoregulation, protection and food provisioning. However, little is known about how these adaptations vary across environmental conditions at larger scales in species with large distribution ranges. Here, we explored how female Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx movement and predation patterns change during the denning season. We analysed GPS telemetry data from two different climatic regions in Europe, cold and temperate, and evaluated the effect of explanatory variables on movement metrics and kill‐to‐den distances using generalized additive mixed models. Female lynx moved significantly longer daily distances in the cold region (central and northern Scandinavia) compared to the temperate region (southern Scandinavia and continental Europe) both before and after parturition. Reproducing females in both regions considerably reduced their movement after the start of the denning season. The typical pattern of increasing daily movements and decreasing time spent at the den with time persisted across regions, and the presence of females at the den followed a similar circadian rhythm, regardless of the markedly different daylight period. Only in the cold region females increased the distances of their excursions from the den as time passed. The distances between den and kill sites spanned from 1 to 3 km over the latitudinal range. The kill‐to‐den distances did not increase with time, but in the cold region the larger prey killsites were farther from the den than in the temperate region. Overall, our results show how some behaviours of female lynx during the denning season remain constant over a large latitudinal range, while others vary. This suggests local adaptations to particular environments, and possible increased energetic demands of reproducing females in more extreme environmental conditions.

• Ostermann-Miyashita, Emu-Felicitas; Kirkland, Hannah; Eklund, Ann; Hare, Darragh; Jansman, Hugh A.H. & Kiffner, Christian [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2025). Bridging the gap between science, policy and stakeholders: Towards sustainable wolf–livestock coexistence in human-dominated landscapes. People and Nature. doi: 10.1002/pan3.10786. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  1. While the return of wolves (Canis lupus) to many European countries is a conservation milestone, the negative impacts are unevenly distributed across society, placing high pressure on livestock grazing systems. 2. For this perspective, scientists from diverse disciplines and geographical backgrounds reflect on the state of livestock–wolf interactions in Europe and formulate recommendations for enabling wolf–livestock coexistence. 3. We argue that co-designing, co-implementing and co-disseminating research with key stakeholders, such as livestock farmers, is a productive approach to developing and implementing locally appropriate coexistence strategies. 4. Decision-making should be informed by scientific evidence. We recommend that ecological data on wolves and livestock are collected and shared across borders. Evidence from the social sciences is important for understanding the human dimension of wolf–livestock interactions. 5. We suggest bridging the gaps within multidisciplinary wolf–livestock research to strengthen interdisciplinary insights, comprehensively evaluate management approaches and guide governance and policy decisions that properly account for inherent complexities. 6. Policy implications: As wolf populations and their impacts continue to grow in Europe, policymakers at all levels must make decisions that adequately safeguard wolf populations while simultaneously protecting livestock and livelihoods. This requires access to reliable scientific evidence.

• Premier, Joseph; Bastianelli, Matteo Luca; Oeser, Julian; Anders, Ole; Andren, Henrik & Aronsson, Malin [Show all 43 contributors for this article] (2025). Survival of Eurasian lynx in the human-dominated landscape of Europe. Conservation Biology. ISSN 0888-8892. 39(3). doi: 10.1111/cobi.14439. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Survival and cause-specific mortality rates are vital for evidence-based population forecasting and conservation, particularly for large carnivores, whose populations are often vulnerable to human-caused mortalities. It is therefore important to know the relationship between anthropogenic and natural mortality causes to evaluate whether they are additive or compensatory. Further, the relation between survival and environmental covariates could reveal whether specific landscape characteristics influence demographic performance. We used telemetry data on 681 Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), a model apex predator with large spatial requirements, that were tracked across their European distribution. Through time-to-event analyses, we sought to determine the variables associated with differences in their survival. Illegal killing was the main cause of mortality (33.8%), and mortality rates were similar in protected and hunted populations (8.6% and 7.0% per year, respectively). Survival varied greatly across populations (70–95% per year). Across all study sites, higher hunting and anthropogenic mortality rates were partially compensated by lower rates of other mortality causes but not by natural mortality alone. Variation in survival depended on sex (female survival was 1.5 times greater than male survival) and seasonality (highest risk during hunting season and winter), and lower survival rates were correlated with higher human modification of landscapes at both coarse (home range composition) and fine (habitat use within home range) scales. Some variation in survival was driven by unobserved factors, which, given the high rates of human-caused mortalities, including illegal killing, are of foremost concern. Due to the low natural mortality rates in protected and hunted populations, we conclude that anthropogenic causes of mortality are likely close to additive, such that maintaining or increasing refuge habitat with little human disturbance is critical to lynx conservation. cause-specific mortality, compensatory mortality, Eurasian lynx, large carnivore, Lynx lynx, survival

• Stokes, Allan William; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Odden, John; Linnell, John Durrus & Zimova, Marketa [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Mountain Hares Are Adapted to Historical Climates—Coat Colour Mismatch is Greatest in Areas With the Largest Reduction in Snow Cover Duration Over the Last 60 Years. Global Change Biology. ISSN 1354-1013. 31(8). doi: 10.1111/gcb.70365. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Climate change has reduced the duration of seasonal snow cover in many areas, leading to seasonal coat colour-changing species being colour mismatched against their environment for increasingly long periods. This mismatch in camouflage can lead to increased predation, potentially resulting in population-level effects. Here we investigate how mountain hare (Lepus timidus) camouflage is influenced by climate change-induced reductions in snow cover over a 60-year period. We quantified the degree of camouflage mismatch using multiannual (2011–2018) camera trap data from 678 camera traps spread across an environmental gradient in Norway spanning from 58° N to 69° N, and from coastal to inland areas. We coupled this camouflage data with a 60-year snow cover time series on a national scale, creating two 30-year averages of snow cover duration (1959–1988 and 1989–2018). We investigated how climate change-induced reductions in snow cover correlate with coat colour camouflage and resulting mismatch. Specifically, we analysed how mountain hare coat colour mismatch varied between camera trap locations with varying reductions in the number of snow days between the two 30-year averages. We also investigated how 2011–2018 mountain hare moult phenology compared to 1959–1966 and 2011–2018 average snow cover, respectively. Coat colour mismatch was highest in areas with the greatest reductions in the number of snow days. Additionally, 2011–2018 moult phenology better matched 1959–1966 than 2011–2018 snow patterns. Collectively, our results indicate that mountain hares are not adjusting their moult phenology fast enough to track the pace at which snow cover is declining.

• Ouvrier, Alice; Culos, Manon; Guillerme, Sylvie; Doré, Antoine; Figari, Helene & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). What does coexistence mean? Insight from place-based trajectories of pastoralists and bears encounters in the Pyrenees. People and Nature. doi: 10.1002/pan3.70000. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  1. The recovery of large carnivores in Europe raises issues related to sharing landscape with humans. Beyond technical solutions, it is widely recognized that social factors also contribute to shaping coexistence. In this context, scholars increasingly stress the need to adopt place-based approaches by analysing how humans and wildlife interact and co-adapt in specific landscapes. In the burgeoning field of ‘more-than- human’ geography, both humans and non-humans are considered as co-constitutive of places. According to this tradition, animals should not simply be seen as objects under human control but approached as powerful actors in multi-species landscapes. 2. By tracking how brown bear recovery in the French Pyrenees has shaped different places of encounters with pastoralists (i.e. farmers and shepherds in extensive sheep farming in mountain pastures during summer), this paper discusses what coexistence means when viewed through the lens of more-than- human geography. We use an in-depth, retrospective and multi-sources approach to describe the inter-relationships of bears and pastoralists on three mountain pastures since the return of bears at the end of the 1990s. Semi structured interviews, participant observation, administrative and institutional data about bear depredation and genetics, as well as pastoral practices form the basis of an integrated narrative analysis. 3. Our study reveals how the return of a large carnivore has produced three different, singular, context-specific coexistence ‘patches’. Each of these three pastures represent a distinct landscape dynamically shaped over time by bears, pastoralists and the rest of biotic and abiotic environment. 4. Specifically, we demonstrate how various factors—the individual behaviour of bears, their movement and reproduction capacity, the number of depredations, the pastoralists' histories, their collective organization, the choices they made, the pastures' features, the available resources and surrounding vegetation—cumulatively intertwine in complex, place-specific entanglements. 5. Policy implications. Our results suggest that coexistence should not be conceptualized as global, top down and standardized. Instead it is shaped by patches in which humans and non-humans interact in specific ways. Therefore, fostering coexistence means acknowledging the full diversity of situations in which people and wildlife write their own place-based, more-than- human histories.

• Speed, James David Mervyn; Sobocinski, Anna; Kolstad, Anders Lorentzen; Linnell, John Durrus; Solberg, Erling Johan & Mattisson, Jenny [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). The trophic distribution of biomass in ecosystems with co-occurring wildlife and livestock. Scientific Reports. 15(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-85469-2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Trophic interactions regulate populations, but anthropogenic processes influence primary productivity and consumption by both herbivore and carnivore species. Trophic ecology studies often focus on natural systems such as protected areas, even though livestock globally comprise the majority of terrestrial vertebrate biomass. Here we explore spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution of biomass between plants, and large herbivores and carnivores (> 10 kg) in Norwegian rangelands, including both wildlife and livestock. We find high spatial variation in the relationship between plant and herbivore biomass, with both positive and negative divergence in observed biomass from expectations based on primary productivity. Meanwhile, despite recent partial recoveries in carnivore densities across Norway, carnivore biomass is still lower than expected based on herbivore biomass, even if livestock are excluded from the estimation. Our study highlights how temporal trends in both herbivores and carnivores reflect policy development. The role of livestock husbandry and wildlife management is thus key in determining realised biomass distributions in anthropogenically influenced ecosystems. Carnivore, Herbivore, Management, Net primary productivity, Predation

• Elves-Powell, Joshua; Axmacher, Jan C.; Linnell, John Durrus & Durant, Sarah M. (2025). Unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade during periods of extreme hardship threatens biodiversity in North Korea. Biological Conservation. ISSN 0006-3207. 308. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111102. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Despite pressing conservation and humanitarian concerns regarding the sustainability of natural resource exploitation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), reliable information is extremely limited as North Korea is one of the most secretive countries in the world. We used local ecological knowledge (LEK)-based interviews with North Korean defectors (refugees) to provide the first baseline data on the harvesting, consumptive use and trade of wildlife in North Korea during periods of severe economic hardship, and the potential impact on terrestrial biodiversity. As well as using wildlife as a domestic resource, the North Korean state, which is not a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), generates revenue through trade in wildlife products, which is reported to include threatened species and species protected under North Korean law. Our findings show that following the collapse of the North Korean economy in the 1990s, a burgeoning black market in wildlife products has emerged, for both local consumption and cross-border trade to China. This was reported to involve an extremely wide range of species, including almost all native mammal species >500 g. We warn that unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade is likely a major driver of defaunation in North Korea, threatening the conservation objectives of its neighbours, and that some cross-border trade may breach China’s CITES and UN Security Council Resolution commitments. Our research demonstrates how severe human deprivation can negatively impact wildlife populations by providing incentives for the unsustainable harvesting of natural resources. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Wild meat Poverty Food security Informal economy People’s Republic of China (China)

• Kiffner, Christian; Linnell, John Durrus; Capelli, Simona; Ciolli, Marco; Iglesias, Ana & Jewell, Kyle [Show all 17 contributors for this article] (2025). Comparative stakeholder perceptions of wildlife management in five European multi-use landscapes. Journal of Environmental Management (JEM). ISSN 0301-4797. 389. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126186. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Human-wildlife coexistence in shared landscapes requires effectively navigating different stakeholder interests. Despite progress in this field, most studies focus on a limited number of “problematic” wildlife species. This narrow scope overlooks the species-specific nature of human-wildlife interactions. To identify general patterns in stakeholder perceptions of diverse wildlife species, we implemented a modified 3i (interest, influence, impact) method to assess how individuals within seven stakeholder groups (crop farmers, livestock farmers, foresters, hunters, tourism operators, protected area managers, and staff of environmental non-governmental organizations) rated their interest in, their influence on, and how they are impacted by twelve wildlife species categories: moose, red deer, wild reindeer, chamois, roe deer, brown bear, wild boar, grey wolf, European ground squirrel, cormorant, eagles, and vultures (some of them were site-specific). The study design consisted of two steps: 1) assessing expert perceptions of the 3i for each stakeholder-species combination in each of the five study areas in Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Spain, and 2) assessing stakeholder (251 individuals) perceptions of the 3i. We found substantial variation in stakeholder perceptions across groups, sites, and species categories. Within-group heterogeneity and individual respondents belonging to multiple stakeholder categories further challenged simplistic assumptions of distinct and well-defined stakeholder perspectives. Expert perceptions often underestimated stakeholder interest in wildlife species categories and occasionally diverged from stakeholder-perceptions of influence and impact. Notably, perceived impacts of brown bears, wolves, and eagles often exceeded the perceived influence on these species categories, underscoring a sense of powerlessness in managing interactions in some sites. Our study provides a comparative framework for understanding major patterns in key conservation conflicts in Europe, and emphasizes the importance of addressing contextualized stakeholder diversity and heterogeneity for more effective co-management of human-wildlife coexistence. These findings offer actionable pathways for improving conservation outcomes and participatory wildlife management across Europe. Conservation conflict, Human-wildlife coexistence, Human-wildlife conflict, Human-wildlife interactions, Participatory methods, Protected areas

• Boyce, Mark S.; Carpentier, Cecile Agnes Edith & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Coexisting with large carnivores based on the Volterra principle. Conservation Biology. ISSN 0888-8892. 39(4). doi: 10.1111/cobi.14448. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Coexistence with large carnivores represents one of the world’s highest profile conservation challenges. Ecologists have identified ecological benefits derived from large carnivores (and large herbivores), yet livestock depredation, perceived competition for shared game, risks to pets and humans, and social conflicts often lead to demands for reduction of predator numbers from a range of stakeholder groups. Nearly 100 years ago, Vito Volterra predicted that increased mortality on both prey and predators results in increased abundance of prey and decreased abundance of predators. This principle appears to be robust and often consistent with the objectives of wildlife management. Although seldom recognized, and rarely tested in the field, the Volterra principle is a fundamental outcome of ecological theory with important implications for conservation.

• Bernardi, Cecilia Di; Chapron, Guillaume; Kaczensky, Petra; Álvares, Francisco; Andrén, Henrik & Balys, Vaidas [Show all 37 contributors for this article] (2025). Continuing recovery of wolves in Europe. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. 4(2). doi: 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000158. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The recovery of wolves (Canis lupus) across Europe is a notable conservation success in a region with extensive human alteration of landscapes and high human population densities. We provide a comprehensive update on wolf populations in Europe, estimated at over 21,500 individuals by 2022, representing a 58% increase over the past decade. Despite the challenges of high human densities and significant land use for agriculture, industry, and urbanization, wolves have demonstrated remarkable adaptability and increasing population trends in most European countries. Improved monitoring techniques, although varying in quality and scope, have played a crucial role in tracking this recovery. Annually, wolves kill approximately 56,000 domestic animals in the EU, a risk unevenly distributed and differently handled across regions. Damage compensation costs 17 million EUR every year to European countries. Positive economic impacts from wolf presence, such as those related to reducing traffic accidents with wild ungulates or supporting wildlife tourism, remain under studied. Wolf recovery in Europe is supported by diverse policy and legal instruments such as LIFE programs, stakeholder platforms, as well as the EU Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention. Coexisting with newly established wolf populations in Europe entails managing impacts on human activities, including livestock depredation, competition for game, and fear of attacks on humans, amidst varying social and political views on wolf recovery. Sustainable coexistence continues to operate in evolving and complex social, economic, and political landscapes, often characterized by intense debates regarding wolf policies.

• Mayhew, Darwin Steuart-Menzies; Hearn, Andrew J.; Devineau, Olivier; Linnell, John Durrus & Macdonald, David W. (2024). Loss of Sunda clouded leopards and forest integrity drive potential impacts of mesopredator release on vulnerable avifauna. Heliyon. 10(12). doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32801. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Amongst the unintended consequences of anthropogenic landscape conversion is declining apex predator abundance linked to loss of forest integrity, which can potentially re-order trophic networks. One such re-ordering, known as mesopredator release, occurs when medium-sized predators, also called mesopredators, rapidly increase in abundance following the decline in apex predator abundance, consequently reducing the abundance of mesopredator prey, notably including terrestrial avifauna. We examine the cascading impacts of declining Sunda clouded leopard abundance, itself consequent upon a reduction in forest integrity, on the mesopredator community of Sabah, Malaysia, to determine whether the phenomenon of mesopredator release is manifest and specifically whether it impacts the terrestrial avifauna community of pheasants and pittas. To explore this trophic interaction, we used a piecewise structural equation model to compare changes in the relative abundance of organisms. Our results suggest that loss of forest integrity may have broad impacts on the community and trigger mesopredator release, the two acting additively in their impact on already vulnerable species of terrestrial avifauna: a result not previously documented in tropical systems and rarely detected even on a global scale. The limiting effect that the Sunda clouded leopard has on the Sunda leopard cat could illuminate the mechanism whereby mesopredator release impacts this system. Both Bulwer’s pheasant and pittas appear to be significantly impacted by the increase in Sunda leopard cats, while the great argus pheasant shows similar compelling, although not statistically significant, declines as Sunda leopard cats increase. The inverse relationship between Sunda clouded leopards and Sunda leopard cats suggests that if a mesopredator release exists it could have downstream consequences for some terrestrial avifauna. These results suggest the under-studied interface between mammalian carnivores and avifauna, or more broadly species interactions in general, could offer important conservation tool for holistic ecosystem conservation efforts. Forest integrity Mesopredator release Bird Structural equation model Trophic cascade Oil palm plantations

• Iannino, Elena; Linnell, John Durrus; Devineau, Olivier; Odden, John; Mattisson, Jenny & Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt (2024). Assessing the potential of camera traps for estimating activity pattern compared to collar-mounted activity sensors: a case study on Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in south-eastern Norway. Wildlife Biology. ISSN 0909-6396. doi: 10.1002/wlb3.01263. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The diel activity patterns of animals convey information about physiology, ecological niches and animal behaviour relevant for both applied conservation and more theoretical research. However, these patterns are challenging to study in the field. The current gold-standard approach to quantify movements and activity patterns of medium to large wildlife species is to use global positioning systems (GPS) collars equipped with activity sensors (e.g. accelerometers). A more recent approach consists of inferring activity patterns from the time-stamped pictures of wildlife obtained from camera traps now routinely used in wildlife monitoring projects. However, few studies have attempted to validate estimates of activity patterns obtained from camera traps against those obtained from activity sensors. In this study, we compared the diel activity pattern of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx inferred from detections by a network of over 300 camera traps active between 2010 and 2020, to activity patterns obtained from 18 GPS-collared lynx (8 females, 10 males) equipped with 2-axis accelerometer sensors, in the same area of southern Norway. Our results suggest that camera traps can be used to estimate diel activity curves that are comparable to those obtained from accelerometers. In our study, 75 detections were sufficient to approximate the diel activity pattern obtained from accelerometer. Subsampling indicated that a low number of detections results in a coarser approximation of the diel activity pattern. Accelerometer, activity pattern, camera trap, lynx lynx, methodology

• Martinez, Rocio Cano; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Odden, John; Linnell, John Durrus & Devineau, Olivier [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2024). Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway. Ecology and Evolution. 14(3). doi: 10.1002/ece3.11064. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Interactions among coexisting mesocarnivores can be influenced by different fac-tors such as the presence of large carnivores, land-use, environmental productivity,or human disturbance. Disentangling the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down processes can be challenging, but it is important for biodiversity conservationand wildlife management. The aim of this study was to assess how the interactionsamong mesocarnivores (red fox Vulpes vulpes, badger Meles meles, and pine martenMartes martes) were affected by large carnivores (Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and wolf Canislupus), land cover variables (proportion of agricultural land and primary productivity),and human disturbance, as well as how these top-down and bottom-up mechanismswere influenced by season. We analyzed 3 years (2018–2020) of camera trapping ob-servations from Norway and used structural equation models to assess hypothesizednetworks of causal relationships. Our results showed that land cover variables weremore strongly associated with mesocarnivore detection rates than large carnivores inNorway. This might be caused by a combination of low density of large carnivores inan unproductive ecosystem with strong seasonality. Additionally, detection rates of allmesocarnivores showed positive associations among each other, which were strongerin winter. The prevalence of positive interactions among predators might indicate atendency to use the same areas and resources combined with weak interference com-petition. Alternatively, it might indicate some kind of facilitative relationship amongspecies. Human disturbance had contrasting effects for different species, benefitingthe larger mesocarnivores (red fox and badger) probably through food subsidization,but negatively affecting apex predators (wolf and lynx) and smaller mesocarnivores(pine marten). In a human-dominated world, this highlights the importance of includinganthropogenic influences in the study of species interactions.

• Elves‑Powell, Joshua; Dolan, Jai; Durant, Sarah M.; Lee, Hang; Linnell, John Durrus & Turvey, Samuel T. [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Integrating local ecological knowledge and remote sensing reveals patterns and drivers of forest cover change: North Korea as a case study. Regional Environmental Change. ISSN 1436-3798. 24(3). doi: 10.1007/s10113-024-02254-z. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Satellite-based remote sensing approaches provide a cost-efficient means to collect information on the world’s forests and to repeatedly survey large, or inaccessible, forest areas. However, it may not always be possible to ground truth–associated findings using direct ecological field surveys conducted by trained forest scientists. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is an alternative form of data which could be used to complement, interpret and verify information from satellite data. Using a case study on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), we evaluate the potential for integrating remote sensing and LEK data, gathered with non-specialist former residents, to understand patterns and drivers of forest cover change. LEK reports often concurred with, or provided key information to enable interpretation of, satellite data. This revealed that between 1986 and 2021, North Korea experienced high, but uneven, rates of deforestation. There was a pronounced northwards deforestation shift in the mid-1990s, coinciding with a period of extreme hardship and famine (the “Arduous March”), and associated with clearance of trees in more forested northern provinces as an economic and fuel resource, and conversion of forest to agricultural cropland. Loss of forest cover in North Korea has continued and recently accelerated, to a rate of > 200 km2 per annum between 2019 and 2021. This increases the vulnerability of North Korean socio-ecological systems to future environmental change and is an obstacle to the recovery of threatened species across the Korean Peninsula. We recommend that LEK- and remote sensing–based approaches are considered within a suite of complementary techniques to analyse forest changes where ecological field surveys cannot be conducted. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) · Northeast Asia · Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) · Deforestation · Cropland expansion · Mixed methods research

• Clua, Eric E.G.; Meyer, Carl G.; Freeman, Mark; Baksay, Sandra; Bidenbach, Hadrien & Haguenauer, Anne [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2024). First Evidence of Individual Sharks Involved in Multiple Predatory Bites on People. Conservation Letters. 17(6). doi: 10.1111/conl.13067. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  It is widely accepted that populations of terrestrial predators sometimes contain “problem individuals” that repeatedly attack humans, yet this phenomenon has never been demonstrated in sharks. Here, we present photographic and genetic evidence of individuals in populations of tiger Galeocerdo cuvier and oceanic whitetip Carcharhinus longimanus sharks that (1) demonstrated atypical behavior compared to the rest of the population, (2) engaged in repeated agonistic behavior directed toward humans, and (3) bit, or attempted to bite humans in probable foraging attempts. These case studies provide some of the first evidence for the existence of “problem individuals” among sharks. The percentage of fatalities due to the same shark individual are not known, so we recommend systematic swabbing of shark bite victims wounds to better understand the importance of this phenomenon and the possibility of identifying these animals. Environmentally conscientious management options for problem individuals range from prohibiti

• Oliveira, Teresa; Mattisson, Jenny; Vogt, Kristina; Linnell, John Durrus; Odden, John & Oeser, Julian [Show all 37 contributors for this article] (2024). Ecological and intrinsic drivers of foraging parameters of Eurasian lynx at a continental scale. Journal of Animal Ecology. ISSN 0021-8790. 94, p. 154–167. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.14228. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  1. The estimation of foraging parameters is fundamental for understanding predator ecology. Predation and feeding can vary with multiple factors, such as prey availability, presence of kleptoparasites and human disturbance. However, our knowledge is mostly limited to local scales, which prevents studying effects of environmental factors across larger ecological gradients. 2. Here, we compared inter-kill intervals and handling times of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) across a large latitudinal gradient, from subarctic to the Mediterranean ecosystems, using a standardised dataset of predicted adult ungulate kills from 107 GPS-collared lynx from nine distinct populations in Europe. We analysed variations in these two foraging parameters in relation to proxies reflecting prey availability, scavengers' presence and human disturbance, to improve our understanding of lynx predation at a continental scale. 3. We found that inter-kill intervals and handling times varied between populations, social status and in different se

• Carpentier, Cecile Agnes Edith; Heurich, Marco Dietmar; Gimenez, Olivier; Devineau, Olivier & Linnell, John Durrus (2024). Cumulative mortality effects on roe deer population dynamics in the boreal forest: Searching for pathways of population persistence. Global Ecology and Conservation. 56. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03318. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ungulate populations can exhibit various growth patterns, which are influenced by factors such as predation and resource availability. Favourable environments can lead to irruptive growth, resulting in resource depletion. However, additional pressures from predation, and hunting can potentially impact population development leading to declines or even local extinctions. This study uses simulation models to explore the potential impact of multiple mortality sources on roe deer populations. We develop an age-structured, two-sex demographic matrix model for roe deer, which we parameterise with empirical demographic estimates obtained from published studies in Norway. We develop scenarios to assess the influence of mortality sources such as hunting, predation by lynx and red foxes, and environmental stochasticity on roe deer population dynamics. When simulating favourable environments without predation, roe deer populations tended to erupt due to the species’ rapid reproductive capacity. However, additional sources of mortality, such as predation or harvest, lead to severe population declines, and even to quasiextinction, especially when occurring in combination. Environmental stochasticity such as periodic severe winters with heavy snowfall reduces the growth rate and population densities even further. On the other hand, accounting for some form of spatial heterogeneity through immigration and refuges stabilised populations, with a reduced risk of quasi-extinction. Our results provide meaningful insights into the properties of this system allow implications for the management and identify areas where further exploration is needed. Additive mortality Matrix model Population dynamics Predator-prey Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) Wildlife management

• Trouwborst, Arie; Linnell, John Durrus & Sandström, Camilla (2023). Law and human-wildlife conflict. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 152–155. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Roy, Sugoto; Stevens, James; Dickman, Amy; Pooley, Simon; Hoare, Richard & Hedges, Simon [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2023). Lethal control tools. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 166–173. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Athreya, Vidya; Dhee, anon; Linnell, John Durrus; Nijawan, Sahil & Young, Juliette (2023). Traditional ecological knowledge. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 94–97. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Dickman, Amy; Gonzalez-Maya, Jose; Athreya, Vidya; Linnell, John Durrus; Hedges, Simon & Roe, Dilys [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). Economic incentives. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 196–200. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Angoh, Jennifer; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Odden, John; Linnell, John Durrus & Brainerd, Scott Michael (2023). Forestry and environmental conditions as determinants of pine marten Martes martes occurrence in Norway. Wildlife Biology. ISSN 0909-6396. doi: 10.1002/wlb3.01113. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The European pine marten Martes martes is often associated with late seral stage coniferous forest stands. Earlier research has indicated that this species may be nega tively influenced by clearcutting practices. However, the effects of current clearcutting methods on pine marten occurrence in conjunction with changing environmental conditions are not well known. In this study, we combined four complete years of nationwide data collected during a long-term camera trap (CT) monitoring program in Norway. We employed a multi-scale occupancy model to investigate the relationship of pine marten occurrence to clearcuts (regenerating stands ≤ 10 years old) and forests ≥ 120 years old. We also examined pine marten detection in relation to habitat features (i.e. dominant microsite characteristics) and to varying snow depths and temperatures. We found no relationship between pine marten occurrence and the proportions of old forest and clearcuts at the landscape scale. At the habitat-patch scale, pine marten occurrence was positively associated with the presence of old forest patches and terrain ruggedness, but not with clearcuts ≤ 100 m from sites. At CT sites near clearcuts, the detection probability was negatively correlated with snow depth. In contrast, pine marten occurrence was positively associated with snow depth at CT sites > 100 m from clearcuts. Furthermore, the detection probability increased with temperature and the presence of boulders at CT sites. Boulders may provide impor tant access points for foraging, and cover for resting and predator avoidance. While previous studies indicate that pine martens prefer older forest and avoid clearcuts, the current level and scale of clearcutting in Norway does not appear to influence its occurrence at the landscape scale.

• Tallian, Aimee Grace; Mattisson, Jenny; Samelius, Gustaf; Odden, John; Mishra, Charudutt & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2023). Wild versus domestic prey: Variation in the kill-site behavior of two large felids. Global Ecology and Conservation. 47. doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02650. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Livestock depredation is an important source of conflict for many terrestrial large carnivore species. Understanding the foraging behavior of large carnivores on domestic prey is therefore important for both mitigating conflict and conserving threatened carnivore populations. Handling time is an important, albeit often overlooked, component of predatory behavior, as it directly influences access to food biomass, which can affect predator foraging efficiency and subsequent kill rates. We used long-term data on snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in Mongolia (Asia) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Norway (Europe) to examine how large carnivore foraging patterns varied between domestic and wild prey, and how the different landscape characteristics affected those patterns. Our results suggest handling time was generally shorter for domestic compared to wild prey. For snow leopards, rugged terrain was linked to increased handling time for larger prey. For lynx, handling time increased with terrain ruggedness for domestic, but not wild, prey, and was greater in closed compared to open habitats. There were also other differences in snow leopard and lynx foraging behavior, e.g., snow leopards also stayed longer at, and remained closer to, their kill sites than lynx. Shorter handling time suggests that felids may have utilized domestic prey less effectively than wild prey, i.e., they spent less time consuming their prey. This could a) result in an energetic or fitness cost related to decreased felid foraging efficiency caused by the risk of anthropogenic disturbance, or b) exacerbate conflict if reduced handling time associated with easy prey results in increased livestock depredation. Eurasian lynx Handling time Landscape Livestock Predation Snow leopard

• Allen, Benjamin L.; Bobier, Christopher; Dawson, Stuart; Fleming, Peter J.S.; Hampton, Jordan & Jachowski, David [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2023). Why humans kill animals and why we cannot avoid it. Science of the Total Environment. ISSN 0048-9697. 896. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165283. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Killing animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and criticised in some parts of contemporary human society. Here we review 10 primary reasons why humans kill animals, discuss the necessity (or not) of these forms of killing, and describe the global ecological context for human killing of animals. Humans historically and currently kill animals either directly or indirectly for the following reasons: (1) wild harvest or food acquisition, (2) human health and safety, (3) agriculture and aquaculture, (4) urbanisation and industrialisation, (5) invasive, overabundant or nuisance wildlife control, (6) threatened species conservation, (7) recreation, sport or entertainment, (8) mercy or compassion, (9) cultural and religious practice, and (10) research,education and testing. While the necessity of some forms of animal killing is debatable and further depends on individual values, we emphasise that several of these forms of animal killing are a necessary component of our inescapable involvement in a single, functioning, finite, global food web. We conclude that humans (and all other animals) cannot live in a way that does not require animal killing either directly or indirectly, but humans can modify some of these killing behaviours in ways that improve the welfare of animals while they are alive, or to reduce animal suffering whenever they must be killed. We encourage a constructive dialogue that (1) accepts and permits human participation in one enormous global food web dependent on animal killing and (2) focuses on animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Doing so will improve the lives of both wild and domestic animals to a greater extent than efforts to avoid, prohibit or vilify human animal-killing behaviour. Animal ethics Conservation biology Culling Factory farming

• Stokes, Allan William; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Odden, John; Linnell, John Durrus & Pedersen, Simen (2023). Altitude, latitude and climate zone as determinants of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) coat colour change. Ecology and Evolution. 13(10). doi: 10.1002/ece3.10548. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Local adaptation to annually changing environments has evolved in numerous spe-cies. Seasonal coat colour change is an adaptation that has evolved in multiple mam-mal and bird species occupying areas that experience seasonal snow cover. It has a critical impact on fitness as predation risk may increase when an individual is mis-matched against its habitat's background colour. In this paper, we investigate the cor-relation between landscape covariates and moult timing in a native winter-adapted herbivore, the mountain hare (Lepus timidus), throughout Norway. Data was collected between 2011 and 2019 at 678 camera trap locations deployed across an environ-mental gradient. Based on this data, we created a Bayesian multinomial logistic re-gression model that quantified the correlations between landscape covariates and coat colour phenology and analysed among season and year moult timing variation. Our results demonstrate that mountain hare moult timing is strongly correlated with altitude and latitude with hares that live at higher latitudes and altitudes keeping their winter white coats for longer than their conspecifics that inhabit lower latitudes and altitudes. Moult timing was also weakly correlated with climate zone with hares that live in coastal climates keeping their winter white coats for longer than hares that live in continental climates. We found evidence of some among year moult timing varia-tion in spring, but not in autumn. We conclude that mountain hare moult timing has adapted to local environmental conditions throughout Norway

• Carter, Neil H. & Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Building a resilient coexistence with wildlife in a more crowded world. PNAS Nexus. 2(3), p. 1–8. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad030. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There is an urgent need to sustainably coexist with wildlife. However, realizing this goal is hampered by scant understanding of the processes that facilitate and maintain coexistence. Here, we synthesize human–wildlife interactions into eight archetypal outcomes, from eradication to sustained co-benefits, which collectively serve as a heuristic for forms of coexistence across a wide range of species and systems worldwide. We utilize resilience theory to elucidate how and why human–wildlife systems shift between these archetypes, yielding insights on research and policy priorities. We underscore the importance of governance structures that actively enhance the resilience of coexistence

• Tucker, Marlee A.; Schipper, Aafke M.; Adams, Tempe S.F.; Attias, Nina; Avgar, Tal & Babic, Natarscha L. [Show all 82 contributors for this article] (2023). Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns. Science. ISSN 0036-8075. 380(6649), p. 1059–1064. doi: 10.1126/science.abo6499. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable with no change in average movements or road avoidance behavior, likely due to variable lockdown conditions. However, under strict lockdowns 10-day 95th percentile displacements increased by 73%, suggesting increased landscape permeability. Animals' 1-hour 95th percentile displacements declined by 12% and animals were 36% closer to roads in areas of high human footprint, indicating reduced avoidance during lockdowns. Overall, lockdowns rapidly altered some spatial behaviors, highlighting variable but substantial impacts of human mobility on wildlife worldwide.

• Groeve, Johannes De; Weghe, Nico Van de; Ranc, Nathan; Morellet, Nicolas; Bonnot, Nadège C. & Gehr, Benedikt [Show all 13 contributors for this article] (2023). Back and forth: day–night alternation between cover types reveals complementary use of habitats in a large herbivore. Landscape Ecology. ISSN 0921-2973. 38, p. 1033–1049. doi: 10.1007/s10980-023-01594-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Context The Complementary Habitat Hypothesis posits that animals access resources for diferent needs by moving between complementary habitats that can be seen as ‘resource composites’. These movements can occur over a range of temporal scales, from diurnal to seasonal, in response to multiple drivers such as access to food, weather constraints, risk avoidance and human disturbance. Within this framework, we hypothesised that large herbivores cope with human-altered landscapes through the alternate use of complementary habitats at both daily and seasonal scales. Objectives We tested the Complementary Habitat Hypothesis in European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) by classifying 3900 habitat-annotated movement trajectories of 154 GPS-monitored individuals across contrasting landscapes. Methods We considered day-night alternation between open food-rich and closed refuge habitats as a measure of complementary habitat use. We frst identifed day–night alternation using the Individual Movement - Sequence Analysis Method, then we modelled the proportion of day–night alternation over the year in relation to population and individual characteristics. Results We found that day-night alternation is a widespread behaviour in roe deer, even across markedly diferent landscapes. Day–night alternation followed seasonal trends in all populations, partly linked to vegetation phenology. Within populations, seasonal patterns of open/closed habitat alternation difered between male and female adults, but not in juveniles. Conclusion Our results support the Complementary Habitat Hypothesis by showing that roe deer adjust their access to the varied resources available in complex landscapes by including diferent habitats within their home range, and sequentially alternating between them in response to seasonal changes and individual life history. Animal trajectories · Habitat use · IM-SAM · Resource composites · Roe deer · Sequential analysis methods · Spatio-temporal patterns · Vegetation green up

• Oeser, Julian; Heurich, Marco Dietmar; Kramer‑Schadt, Stephanie; Andrén, Henrik; Bagrade, Guna & Belotti, Elisa [Show all 37 contributors for this article] (2023). Prerequisites for coexistence: human pressure and refuge habitat availability shape continental‑scale habitat use patterns of a large carnivore. Landscape Ecology. ISSN 0921-2973. 38, p. 1713–1728. doi: 10.1007/s10980-023-01645-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Context Adjustments in habitat use by large carnivores can be a key factor facilitating their coexistence with people in shared landscapes. Landscape composition might be a key factor determining how large carnivores can adapt to occurring alongside humans, yet broad-scale analyses investigating adjustments of habitat use across large gradients of human pressure and landscape composition are lacking. Objectives Here, we investigate adjustments in habitat use by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in response to varying availability of refuge habitats (i.e., forests and rugged terrain) and human landscape modification.Methods Using a large tracking dataset including 434 individuals from seven populations, we assess functional responses in lynx habitat use across two spatial scales, testing for variation by sex, daytime, and season. Results We found that lynx use refuge habitats more intensively with increasing landscape modification across spatial scales, selecting forests most strongly in otherwise open landscapes and rugged terrain in mountainous regions. Moreover, higher forest availability enabled lynx to place their home ranges in more human-modified landscapes. Human pressure and refuge habitat availability also shaped temporal patterns of lynx habitat use, with lynx increasing refuge habitat use and reducing their use of human-modified areas during periods of high exposure (daytime) or high vulnerability (postnatal period) to human pressure. Conclusions Our findings suggest a remarkable adaptive capacity of lynx towards human pressure and underline the importance of refuge habitats across scales for enabling coexistence between large carnivores and people. More broadly, we highlight that the composition of landscapes determines how large carnivores can adapt to human pressure and thus play an important role shaping large carnivore habitat use and distributions. Animal tracking · Adjustment · Eurasian lynx · Functional response · Habitat availability · Lynx lynx

• Dawson, Stuart; Dawson, Courtenay; Kennedy, Malcolm S.; Kreplins, Tracey L.; Linnell, John Durrus & Fleming, Patricia A. (2023). Knowledge and values drive acceptability of lethal control of kangaroos among the Australian public. Biological Conservation. ISSN 0006-3207. 289. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110416. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife management actions are increasingly contingent on acceptance by the broader public. Consequently, understanding factors that influence acceptability of different management options is important. In Australia, kangaroos (native large herbivores, Macropus spp., Osphranter spp.) are managed using lethal control for a range of context-specific reasons. We surveyed 1293 members of the Australian public to test whether acceptability of lethal control of kangaroos depends on the reason for the control, values towards wildlife (assessed using the Wildlife Values Orientation questionnaire), and knowledge about kangaroos. We also tested whether acceptability could be shifted by providing relevant information. Lethal control of kangaroos for biocentric reasons (i. e., agricultural protection, biodiversity conservation, animal welfare) was more acceptable than lethal control of kangaroos for anthropocentric reasons (i.e., human consumption, human safety). Acceptability was greater among survey respondents high on the domination orientation (i.e., valuing wildlife for human benefits), and lower among those high on the mutualism orientation (i.e., valuing wildlife for its own intrinsic value). Acceptability was also positively associated with knowledge of kangaroo ecology and management. Provision of information did not impact acceptability of lethal control for any reason except for human use, which, while not significant, showed promise that acceptability of lethal control for this reason could be influential to the public. Additionally, while the acceptability of lethal control varied widely among the Australian population, there was little evidence of polarisation, suggesting that large sectors of the public may be amenable to different perspectives.Wildlife management actions are increasingly contingent on acceptance by the broader public. Consequently, understanding factors that influence acceptability of different management options is important. In Australia, kangaroos (native large herbivores, Macropus spp., Osphranter spp.) are managed using lethal control for a range of context-specific reasons. We surveyed 1293 members of the Australian public to test whether acceptability of lethal control of kangaroos depends on the reason for the control, values towards wildlife (assessed using the Wildlife Values Orientation questionnaire), and knowledge about kangaroos. We also tested whether acceptability could be shifted by providing relevant information. Lethal control of kangaroos for biocentric reasons (i. e., agricultural protection, biodiversity conservation, animal welfare) was more acceptable than lethal control of kangaroos for anthropocentric reasons (i.e., human consumption, human safety). Acceptability was greater among survey respondents high on the domination orientation (i.e., valuing wildlife for human benefits), and lower among those high on the mutualism orientation (i.e., valuing wildlife for its own intrinsic value). Acceptability was also positively associated with knowledge of kangaroo ecology and management. Provision of information did not impact acceptability of lethal control for any reason except for human use, which, while not significant, showed promise that acceptability of lethal control for this reason could be influential to the public. Additionally, while the acceptability of lethal control varied widely among the Australian population, there was little evidence of polarisation, suggesting that large sectors of the public may be amenable to different perspectives. Wildlife values orientation Population control Wildlife management Mutualism Domination Acceptability Macropod Harvest

• Pooley, Simon; Hill, Catherine & Linnell, John Durrus (2023). How histories shape interactions. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 68–73. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Linnell, John Durrus; Thondlana, Gladman & Hedges, Simon (2023). Assessing the impacts of conflict. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 37–40. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Hill, Catherine; Athreya, Vidya; Glikman, Jenny A.; Linnell, John Durrus & Pooley, Simon (2023). Culture and wildlife. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 62–67. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Hill, Catherine; Athreya, Vidya; Linnell, John Durrus; McQuinn, Brian; Redpath, Steven & Young, Juliette [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). The role of the conservationist. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 25–27. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Oeser, Julian; Heurich, Marco Dietmar; Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A.; Mattisson, Jenny; Krofel, Miha & Krojerová-Prokešová, Jarmila [Show all 40 contributors for this article] (2023). Integrating animal tracking datasets at a continental scale for mapping Eurasian lynx habitat. Diversity and Distributions: A Journal of Conservation Biogeography. ISSN 1366-9516. 29(12), p. 1546–1560. doi: 10.1111/ddi.13784. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Aim: The increasing availability of animal tracking datasets collected across many sites provides new opportunities to move beyond local assessments to enable detailed and consistent habitat mapping at biogeographical scales. However, integrating wildlife datasets across large areas and study sites is challenging, as species' varying responses to different environmental contexts must be reconciled. Here, we compare approaches for large-area habitat mapping and assess available habitat for a recolonizing large carnivore, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). Location: Europe. Methods: We use a continental-scale animal tracking database (450 individuals from 14 study sites) to systematically assess modelling approaches, comparing (1) global strategies that pool all data for training versus building local, site-specific models and combining them, (2) different approaches for incorporating regional variation in habitat selection and (3) different modelling algorithms, testing nonlinear mixed effects models as well as machine-learning algorithms. Results: Testing models on training sites and simulating model transfers, global and local modelling strategies achieved overall similar predictive performance. Model performance was the highest using flexible machine-learning algorithms and when incorporating variation in habitat selection as a function of environmental variation. Our best-performing model used a weighted combination of local, site-specific habitat models. Our habitat maps identified large areas of suitable, but currently unoccupied lynx habitat, with many of the most suitable unoccupied areas located in regions that could foster connectivity between currently isolated populations. Main Conclusions: We demonstrate that global and local modelling strategies can achieve robust habitat models at the continental scale and that considering regional variation in habitat selection improves broad-scale habitat mapping. More generally, we highlight the promise of large wildlife tracking databases for large-area habitat mapping. Our maps provide the first high-resolution, yet continental assessment of lynx habitat across Europe, providing a consistent basis for conservation planning for restoring the species within its former range. animal tracking, Eurasian lynx, habitat suitability, large carnivore, large-area mapping, Lynx lynx

• Bubnicki, Jakub W.; Norton, Ben; Baskauf, Steven J.; Bruce, Tom; Cagnacci, Francesca & Casaer, Jim [Show all 36 contributors for this article] (2023). Camtrap DP: an open standard for the FAIR exchange and archiving of camera trap data. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. 10(3), p. 283–295. doi: 10.1002/rse2.374. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Camera trapping has revolutionized wildlife ecology and conservation by providing automated data acquisition, leading to the accumulation of massive amounts of camera trap data worldwide. Although management and processing of camera trap-derived Big Data are becoming increasingly solvable with the help of scalable cyber-infrastructures, harmonization and exchange of the data remain limited, hindering its full potential. There is currently no widely accepted standard for exchanging camera trap data. The only existing proposal, “Camera Trap Metadata Standard” (CTMS), has several technical shortcomings and limited adoption. We present a new data exchange format, the Camera Trap Data Package (Camtrap DP), designed to allow users to easily exchange, harmonize and archive camera trap data at local to global scales. Camtrap DP structures camera trap data in a simple yet flexible data model consisting of three tables (Deployments, Media and Observations) that supports a wide range of camera deployment designs, classification techniques (e.g., human and AI, media-based and event-based) and analytical use cases, from compiling species occurrence data through distribution, occupancy and activity modeling to density estimation. The format further achieves interoperability by building upon existing standards, Frictionless Data Package in particular, which is supported by a suite of open software tools to read and validate data. Camtrap DP is the consensus of a long, in-depth, consultation and outreach process with standard and software developers, the main existing camera trap data management platforms, major players in the field of camera trapping and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Under the umbrella of the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), Camtrap DP has been developed openly, collaboratively and with version control from the start. We encourage camera trapping users and developers to join the discussion and contribute to the further development and adoption of this standard. Biodiversity data, camera traps, data exchange, data sharing, information standards

• Hoare, Richard; Linnell, John Durrus & Athreya, Vidya (2023). Animal capture and translocation. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 160–165. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Mattisson, Jenny; Linnell, John Durrus; Anders, Ole; Belotti, Elisa; Breitenmoser-Würsten, Christine & Bufka, Ludek [Show all 25 contributors for this article] (2022). Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe. Ecology and Evolution. 12(8). doi: 10.1002/ece3.9147. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) occurs across the Eurasian continent, covering three of the four main climate regions of the world. Thus, their distribution includes a large variation in climatic conditions, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology. Here, we used data on multiple reproductive events from 169 lynx females across Europe. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was ~10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Birth dates were relatively synchronized across Europe, but more so in the north than in the south. Timing of birth was delayed by colder May temperatures. Severe and cold weather may affect neonatal survival via hypothermia and avoiding inclement weather early in the season may select against early births, especially at northern latitudes. Overall, only about half of the kittens born survived until onset of winter but whether kittens were born relatively late or early did not affect kitten survival. Lynx are strict seasonal breeders but still show a degree of flexibility to adapt the timing of birth to surrounding environmental conditions. We argue that lynx give birth later when exposed to colder spring temperatures and have more synchronized births when the window of favorable conditions for raising kittens is shorter. This suggests that lynx are well adapted to different environmental conditions, from dry and warm climates to alpine, boreal, and arctic climates. This variation in reproductive timing will be favorable in times of climate change, as organisms with high plasticity are more likely to adjust to new environmental conditions.

• Cusack, Jeremy J.; Nilsen, Erlend Birkeland; Israelsen, Markus Fjellstad; Andrén, Henrik; Grainger, Matthew & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Quantifying the checks and balances of collaborative governance systems for adaptive carnivore management. Journal of Applied Ecology. ISSN 0021-8901. 59(4), p. 1038–1049. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.14113. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  1. Recovering or threatened carnivore populations are often harvested to minimise their impact on human activities, such as livestock farming or game hunting. Increasingly, harvest quota decisions involve a set of scientific, administrative and political institutions operating at national and sub- national levels whose interactions and collective decision- making aim to increase the legitimacy of management and ensure population targets are met. In practice, however, as-sessments of how quota decisions change between these different actors and what consequences these changes have on population trends are rare.2. We combine a state-space population modelling approach with an analysis of quota decisions taken at both regional and national levels between 2007 and 2018 to build a set of decision- making models that together predict annual har-vest quota values for Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Norway.3. We reveal a tendency for administrative decision- makers to compensate for consistent quota increases by political actors, particularly when the lynx popula-tion size estimate is above the regional target. Using population forecasts based on the ensemble of decision- making models, we show that such buffering of po-litical biases ensures lynx population size remains close to regional and national targets in the long term.4. Our results go beyond the usual qualitative assessment of collaborative gov-ernance systems for carnivore management, revealing a system of checks and balances that, in the case of lynx in Norway, ensures both multi-stakeholder participation and sustainable harvest quotas. Nevertheless, we highlight impor-tant inter- regional differences in decision- making and population forecasts, the socio- ecological drivers of which need to be better understood to prevent fu-ture population declines.5. Synthesis and applications. Our work analyses the sequence of decisions lead-ing to yearly quotas for lynx harvest in Norway, highlighting the collaborative and structural processes that together shape harvest sustainability. In doing so, we provide a predictive framework to evaluate participatory decision- making processes in wildlife management, paving the way for scientists and decision- makers to collaborate more widely in identifying where decision biases might lie and how institutional arrangements can be optimised to minimise them. We emphasise, however, that this is only possible if wildlife management decisions are documented and transparentcollaborative, decision-making, harvest, lynx, Norway, population forecast, quota, stakeholder

• Kaltenborn, Bjørn Petter & Linnell, John Durrus (2022). The Coexistence Potential of Different Wildlife Conservation Frameworks in a Historical Perspective. Frontiers in Conservation Science. 2. doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2021.711480. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife management in contemporary Europe means balancing multiple demands in shared landscapes. Perhaps the greatest question facing today’s policy makers and wildlife professionals is how to develop frameworks for co-existence between wildlife and the plethora of other land use interests. As a profession, the roots of wildlife management and conservation can be traced back to the 1600’s, but most of relevant paradigms that have shaped the management of wildlife over time have emerged after the mid-1800’s and particularly since the 1960’s. Here we examine the historical development of the main traits and concepts of a number of management and conservation paradigms that have all contributed to the multifaceted field of contemporary wildlife management and conservation. We outline a chronology of concepts and ideologies with their underlying key ideas, values and operational indicators and make an assessment of the potential of each paradigm as a coexistence framework for dealing with wildlife. We tie this to a discussion of ethics and argue that the lack of unity in approaches is deeply embedded in the disagreements between rule-based (deontological) versus results-based (consequentialist) ethics. We suggest that some of the conflicts between ideologies, value sets and paradigms can be resolved as an issue of scale and zonation in shared landscapes. We also argue that approaches built on anthropocentrism, value pluralism and environmental pragmatism are most likely to succeed in omplex socio-political landscapes. However, we caution against moral relativism and the belief that all types of cultural values are equally valid as a basis for contemporary management. Wildlife management, conservation, paradigms, concepts, Values, Ethics

• Durant, Sarah M.; Marino, Agnese; Linnell, John Durrus; Oriol-Cotterill, Alayne; Dloniak, Stephanie & Dolrenry, Stephanie [Show all 19 contributors for this article] (2022). Fostering Coexistence Between People and Large Carnivores in Africa: Using a Theory of Change to Identify Pathways to Impact and Their Underlying Assumptions. Frontiers in Conservation Science. 2. doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2021.698631. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Coexistence with large carnivores poses challenges to human well-being, livelihoods, development, resource management, and policy. Even where people and carnivores have historically coexisted, traditional patterns of behavior toward large carnivores may be disrupted by wider processes of economic, social, political, and climate change. Conservation interventions have typically focused on changing behaviors of those living alongside large carnivores to promote sustainable practices. While these interventions remain important, their success is inextricably linked to broader socio-political contexts, including natural resource governance and equitable distribution of conservation-linked costs and benefits. In this context we propose a Theory of Change to identify logical pathways of action through which coexistence with large carnivores can be enhanced. We focus on Africa’s dryland landscapes, known for their diverse guild of large carnivores that remain relatively widespread across the continent. We review the literature to understand coexistence and its challenges; explain our Theory of Change, including expected outcomes and pathways to impact; and discuss how our model could be implemented and operationalized. Our analysis draws on the experience of coauthors, who are scientists and practitioners, and on literature from conservation, political ecology, and anthropology to explore the challenges, local realities, and place-based conditions under which expected outcomes succeed or fail. Three pathways to impact were identified: (a) putting in place good governance harmonized across geographic scales; (b) addressing coexistence at the landscape level; and (c) reducing costsand increasing benefits of sharing a landscape with large carnivores. Coordinated conservation across the extensive, and potentially transboundary, landscapes needed by large carnivores requires harmonization of top-down approaches with bottom-up community-based conservation. We propose adaptive co-management approaches combined with processes for active community engagement and informed consent as useful dynamic mechanisms for navigating through this contested space, while enabling adaptation to climate change. Success depends on strengthening underlying enabling conditions, including governance, capacity, local empowerment, effective monitoring, and sustainable financial support. Implementing the Theory of Change requires ongoing monitoring and evaluation to inform adaptation and build confidence in the model. Overall, the model provides a flexible and practical framework that can be adapted to dynamic local socio-ecological contexts. large carnivore conservation, African semi-arid, community-based conservation, human wildlife conflict, community-based natural resource management, adaptive co-management, rangeland management, climate change adaptation

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• Aukenthaler, Heinrich; Aukenthaler, Heinrich; Hofer, Alberich; Linnell, John Durrus; Mettler, Daniel & Miller, Christine [Show all 27 contributors for this article] (2022). Der Wolf im Visier - Konflikte und Lösungsansätze. Athesia Tappeiner Verlag. ISBN 9788868395698. 351 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Hatlevik, Svein Egil & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Linnell tror EU vil gripe inn mot svenske og finske planer om mindre ulvebestand. [Internet]. rovdyr.org. doi: https:/rovdyr.org/aktuelt/linnell-tror-eu-vil-gripe-inn-mot-svenske-planer-om-mindre-ulvebestand/. Full text in Research Archive
• Grau, Ana; Jal, Alberto Bernues; Casasus, Isabel; Linnell, John Durrus; Torres, Eduardo & Collado, Daniel Martin (2026). A European typology of pastoral systems to understand livestock–large carnivore interactions. Full text in Research Archive
• Ruiz, Angela; Mayer, Martin; Collado, Daniel Martin; Jal, Alberto Bernues; Casasus, Isabel & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Farm practices and farm-level drivers of livestock losses to large carnivores across Europe. Full text in Research Archive
• Ouvrier, Alice; Culos, Manon; Guillerme, Sylvie; Dore, Antoine; Figari, Helene & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2026). Place-based trajectories of pastoralists and bears encounters in the Pyrenees. Full text in Research Archive
• Bormpoudakis, Dimitros; Boom, Auvikki de; Kasper, Katharina & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Emerging technologies for human-wildlife coexistence (Round table). Full text in Research Archive
• Selva, Nuria; Linnell, John Durrus; Bautista, Carlos & Iannarilli, Fabiola (2026). Upscaling camera-trapping – integrating professional and citizen efforts for continental-scale monitoring of EBVs. Full text in Research Archive
• Andersen, Maiken Sif & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Norsk ulveekspert om dansk situation: Den var blevet skudt for længst her. [Journal]. Jyllands-Posten. doi: https:/jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE19548660/norsk-ulveekspert-om-dansk-situation-den-var-blevet-skudt-for-laengst-her/?shareToken=qdnuspe8dmc4jcdkqkhea3ps. Full text in Research Archive
• Nagy, Peter & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Vil ha nye soner. [Journal]. Jakt. Full text in Research Archive
• Hatlevik, Svein Egil & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). John Linnell om rovdyrkonflikten: – Alle mener de andre har mer makt enn dem selv. [Journal]. rovdyr.org. doi: https:/rovdyr.org/aktuelt/john-linnell-om-rovdyrkonflikten-alle-mener-de-andre-har-mer-makt-enn-dem-selv/. Full text in Research Archive
• Juelsen, Christina O. & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Heidi og familien opplevde dette for andre gang. [Journal]. Svelvikposten Pluss. Full text in Research Archive
• Juelsen, Christina O. & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Det er jo unikt. [Journal]. Svelvikposten. Full text in Research Archive
• Mellem, Kenneth & Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Her holder ulven ham med selskap i en halvtime. [Journal]. Glåmdalen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Vege, Håvard Hjorthaug (2026). Vinter-OL 2026, Langrenn | Hund dukket opp i OL-løypene. [Internet]. Nettavisen. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  NRKs kommentatorer reagerte på det Sverige gjorde. Så ble det svært spesielle scener under lagsprinten i OL.

• Vangen, Knut Morten; Krange, Olve; Mattisson, Jenny; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Tveraa, Torkild & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Faggrunnlag for ny utredning av bestandsmål for gaupe og jerv. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2026). Large carnivores in the European Union Status, impacts, coexistence and legislation. doi: 10.2861/3426253. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Large carnivores have made a large recovery across much of the European continent. Many populations have expanded in both density and distribution, although a few small populations remain small and endangered. Best estimates are in the order of 22.000 wolves, 19.000 brown bears, 9.000 Eurasian lynx and 1.000 wolverines in the EU. This recovery has led to a diversity of impacts and conflicts, of both an economic and a social / cultural / political nature. Between 50.000 and 80.000 head of livestock are killed each year, mainly sheep and reindeer. Overall, this represents <0.1% of the EU’s small ruminant livestock, but losses can be very high in some locations. It is important, however, to realise that conflicts go far beyond the losses of livestock and touch on a diversity of wider psychological, social and political issues. Achieving coexistence requires the use of a large integrated toolkit of interventions, that include proactive protection measures, economic incentives and compensation, lethal measures and good governance. These measures need to be deployed in a holistic and coordinated manner and must involve multiple sectorial policies. Ensuring inclusive participation, and sense of justice, and legitimacy are essential for good environmental governance. For many regions, the focus is now moving from avoiding decline and extinction to learning to live with this conservation success by establishing both sustainable management practices and relationships with large carnivores in shared landscapes. The legislation which has been a central driver of this continental scale recovery contains some challenges in terms of adapting it to manage this new situation, and there remains considerable discussion over the interpretation of key legislative elements.

• Pedersen, Simen; Stokes, Allan William; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Linnell, John Durrus & Hofmeester, Tim (2026). Klimaendringer gir kamuflagekluss. Haren er en konservativ fyr - den er tilpasset klima fra midten av forrige århundre. Jakt og fiske. ISSN 0800-3041. 1/2026(1), p. 44–48. Full text in Research Archive
• Mergeay, Joachim; Linnell, John Durrus & Kopatz, Alexander (2026). How can we operationalize effective population size (Ne) for large carnivore conservation and management in Europe? Full text in Research Archive
• Odden, John; Tveraa, Torkild; Mattisson, Jenny; Krange, Olve & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Det er ikke bare rovdyr som er grunnen til at det blir mindre rein. doi: https:/www.forskersonen.no/kronikk-meninger-natur/rovdyr-er-ikke-den-eneste-grunnen-til-at-rein-gar-tapt/2586514. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Det ensidige fokuset på at rovvilt er det største problemet bidrar dessverre til å øke konflikten rundt rovvilt og tamrein. Samtidig undergraver det muligheten til en konstruktiv diskusjon om hvordan vi best kan ivareta reindrifta som samisk kulturbærer, i lys av klimaendringene og nedbyggingen av naturen som vi står midt oppi.

• Lopp, Eleri & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Interview with John D. C. Linnell. doi: https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdUt3bUSDS0. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Rønning, Atle (2025). Stort europeisk forskningsprosjekt skal undersøke konflikter i utmark. [Internet]. Jeger.no. doi: https:/www.jeger.no/jakt-og-samfunn/stort-europeisk-forskningsprosjekt-skal-undersoke-konflikter-i-utmark. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Stokmo, Jan Arne (2025). Hvordan skal vi leve sammen med flere rovdyr? [Internet]. www.nina.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Bøthun, Hannah Emilie (2025). Derfor må dyrene dø: – Flytting er ingen magisk og enkel løsning. [Journal]. Aftenposten. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Ytrehus, Tormod (2025). Her springer gaupeungene rundt på gårdsplassen. Én ting overrasker eksperten. [Internet]. Avisa Sør-Trøndelag Pluss. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Schou, Ingrid (2025). Hvor blir det av alle dyre-skjelettene? [Internet]. ung.forskning.no. doi: https:/ung.forskning.no/dyreverden-skog/hvor-blir-det-av-alle-dyre-skjelettene/2574721. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Pettersen, Beth Mørch (2025). Forsker: - Kan ikke forvente at rovdyr følger kommunegrensa. [Internet]. NRK. doi: https:/www.nrk.no/nordland/forsker-om-rovviltforliket_-_-rovdyrene-har-for-sma-omrader-a-leve-pa-1.17659477. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Nordland, NRK (2025). Både rovdyr og beitedyr treng større soner. [Journal]. Firda Tidend. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Best practices for large carnivore management update. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Panel discussion: Is Human-Bear Coexistence Feasible Under the Current Human Landscape Domination? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). What does it mean to conserve large carnivores in European multi-use landscapes. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). New developments in European management of large carnivores. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Europeisk forskning på samekistens med rovvilt. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Large carnivores and coexistence with humans: updates from European policy processes. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). The CoCo project and its relevance for agricultural animal production. Full text in Research Archive
• Jewell, Kyle; Kiffner, Christian; Capelli, S.; Martin-Collado, Dani; Kaltenborn, Bjørn Petter & Ostermann-Miyashita, Emu [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). Expanding the Life Framework of Values. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). The Big_Picture project: structure, activities, planning. Full text in Research Archive
• Martin-Collado, Dani; Bernués, A.; Boiani, Maria; Casasús, I.; Marino, F. & Marucco, Francesca [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2025). Exploring vulnerability to wildlife predators in extensive livestock farming systems across Europe. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence: presentation of IUCN guidelines. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). What does downlisting of wolves mean for practical management? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Best practices in large carnivore management: lessons from diverse contexts. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Large carnivore management in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). What does coexistence between humans and wildlife look like? Full text in Research Archive
• Boitani, Luigi & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Downlisting of the wolf - what does it means? Favourable reference values and managing wolves on annex V. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus; Kusak, Josip; Salvatori, Valeria; Kuijper, Dries & Reinhardt, Ilka (2025). Is the concept of problematic behaviour in wolves an ecological or cultural debate? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). What is this thing called coexistence? (and who gets to decide how it looks?). Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Forskning på forholdet mellom vilt, jegere, beitebruk, samfunn og politikk. Norge i et europeisk kontekst (eller Europa i et norsk kontekst?). Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Mennesker, vilt og utmark. Hva er et bærekraftig samekistens i den 21 århundre? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Mennesker, vilt, rovdyr og husdyr. Vil det noen gang bli en sameksistens i den norske utmark? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Forskning på forholdet mellom vilt, jegere, beitebruk, samfunn og politikk. Norge i et europeisk kontekst (eller Europa i et norsk kontekst?). Full text in Research Archive
• Odden, John; Mattisson, Jenny; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Evaluating the Impact of Knowledge-Based Interventions on Compensation Practices for Lynx Predation on Sheep in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Hofmeester, Tim; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Andrén, Henrik; Cromsigt, Joris P. G. M.; Frauendorf, Magali & Kindberg, Jonas [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). SCANDCAM: Developing Collaborative Camera-Trap Approaches Across Borders. Full text in Research Archive
• Carpentier, Cecile Agnes Edith & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Sustainable Harvest Strategies in a Lynx-Roe Deer Predator-Prey System: Insights from a Modelling Approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Cagnacci, Francesca; Linnell, John Durrus; Heurich, Marco Dietmar; Flagstad, Øystein; Elmhagen, Bodil & Hogg, Carolyn [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Managing the Wild? Exploring the Role of Wildlife Management in Rewilding. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). The Big_Picture: building integrated workflows to leverage the enormous potential of expert and citizen operated camera traps. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The last decade has seen an explosion in the use of digital camera traps by both professional biologists and private citizens. Each camera can potentially collect verifiable documentation of species presence over periods of many months. The resulting data can be used to study species distributions, densities, habitat use, behaviour, phenotypes and health. However, there are significant barriers to realising the enormous potential. These include, (1) legal issues concerning GDPR, (2) logistical issues involved in classifying the species in millions of images, (3) issues related to data standards and interoperability of different databases, (4) social and trust issues surrounding data sharing and (5) statistical challenges of combining data collected using different field protocols. The Biodiversa+ funded Big_Picture project aims to overcome many of these obstacles by building legal and practical digital pipelines to facilitate data sharing. This includes the use of AI image processing, data standards, interoperable databases and new statistical approaches. The project also aims to develop guidance matching field procedures, analysis procedures and research / management questions.

• Gordon, James & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). A ‘saviour’ of ecosystems or an ‘exercise in fantasy’? Scientists on a potential return of the lynx to the UK. [Internet]. Ends Report. doi: https:/www.endsreport.com/article/1934734/saviour-ecosystems-exercise-fantasy-scientists-potential-return-lynx-uk. Full text in Research Archive
• Elves-Powell, Joshua; Axmacher, Jan C.; Linnell, John Durrus & Durant, Sarah M. (2025). Curtail North Korea’s illegal wildlife trade. Science. ISSN 0036-8075. 389(6763), p. 885–885. doi: 10.1126/science.ady8692. Full text in Research Archive
• Mattisson, Jenny; Odden, John & Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Evaluating compensation Practices for Lynx Predation on Sheep in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Pedersen, Simen; Pierquin, Caroline; Stokes, Allan William; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Hofmeester, Tim R. & Odden, John [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Seasonally coat colour changing Mountain hares and non-changing European hares both decrease diurnal activity as response to camouflage mismatch. doi: https:/www.iwc2025.com/_files/ugd/191ccf_1f9096c7df0d4a09b9fbd2cf0bbe0338.pdf. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Climate change is causing winter shortening, leading to increased camouflage mismatch for species with seasonal coat colour moults, such as the mountain hare (Lepus timidus). These hares' white winter coats contrast sharply against snow-free environments, increasing their predation risk. Contrastingly, the European hare (Lepus europaeus), which maintains a brown coat year-round, may become more visible during snowy periods. Both the native Mountain hare and the introduced European hare occur in Norway and are impacted by snow presence. However, evidence of behavioural adaptation to camouflage mismatch remains limited. Our study investigates the potential for behavioural plasticity in diel activity patterns of mountain and European hares in Norway and southwestern Sweden as a response to camouflage mismatch. Utilizing seven years of camera trap data and kernel density estimate (KDE) analysis, we observed significant shifts in activity patterns under mismatch conditions. Both species exhibited increased nocturnal activity and decreased diurnal activity, with European hares showing a marked increase in nocturnal behaviour, likely to minimize predation risk. These behavioural shifts were amplified by high predator activity in mountain hares and low predator activity in European hares, highlighting the critical role of predation in shaping species-specific adaptive behaviours. Our findings underscore the importance of behavioural plasticity in mountain hares as an adaptation to camouflage mismatch and heightened predation risks. Furthermore, we provide the first evidence of a similar response in a non-seasonal colour moulting species, the European hare. This research emphasizes the value of analysing activity patterns to understand adaptive strategies and underscores the importance of considering behavioural flexibility in conservation efforts for species vulnerable to climate change, as this flexibility is highly dependent on ecological conditions.

• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Coexistence with Europe's carnivores is possibly (commentary). Mongabay. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Moe, Erlend (2025). Skal forske på konflikter i utmark i Europa. [Internet]. ntb.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Skal forske på konflikter mellom viltforvaltning og husdyrhold. [Internet]. Friluftsliv.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Storskala europeisk studie skal løyse utmarkskonfliktar. [Journal]. Nationen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Stokmo, Jan Arne (2025). Rovdyrene vender tilbake til Europa. [Journal]. Nationen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Rønning, Atle (2025). Norge leder EU-prosjekt om rovdyrforvaltning. [Journal]. Jeger. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Universitetet i Innlandet skal forske på konfliktar i utmark i Europa. [Internet]. NRK.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). EU forskningsprosjekter på Evenstad. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Viltforskning og undervisning, fra Norge til EU. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Jørgensen, Sara Oline Martini (2025). Er det noen grunn til å frykte ulven? [Internet]. forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). The recovery of large carnivores in Europe - what does it tell us about the future of coexistence with mammals? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Spolander, Jörn (2025). Regeringen vill halvera antalet vargar – i strid med forskningen. [Journal]. Dagens Nyheter. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Garcia, Chus (2025). En busca de puntos de encuentro para convivir. [Journal]. Heraldo de Aragon. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Hvordan leve med rovdyrene? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Status and trend of large carnivores in the EU and their impact on livestock. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Rovviltforvaltning i Europa – jakt, bestandsregulering og vern? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Presentation of the CoCo project. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Monsen, Torbjørn (2025). Man har ofte mer til felles enn folk tror. [Journal]. Sagat. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Engmann, Jesper (2025). Sandsynlighed for ulveangreb på mennesker er ikke til at måle. [Journal]. Jyllands-Posten. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Hatlevik, Svein Egil (2025). John Linnell om millionprosjektet somskal gjenopprette balansen mellom rovdyr og beitebruk i Europa. [Internet]. www.rovdyr.org. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2025). Downlisting the wolf: a way forward for the EU. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus; Sund, Steinar Steinkopf & Kaczensky, Petra (2025). Vender tilbake. [Journal]. Vi Menn. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2024). Wolf conservation in Europe - how to live with conservation success? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Stockwell, Billy (2024). Europe saved its bears from extinction. Now some countries want more rights to shoot them. [Internet]. CNN.com. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Sandberg, Tor (2024). Kan fort komme ulv inn i Troms og Nordland også. [Internet]. Dagsavisen PLuss. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2024). Risico op beet door hond veel groter. [Internet]. REFORMATORISCH DAGBLAD DONDERDAG. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Krumenacker, Thomas (2024). Der Wolf ist zwischen die Fronten eines Glaubenskriegs geraten. [Internet]. www.riffreporter.de. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Koch, Julia (2024). Schützen oder Töten: Das Märchen vom bösen Wolf. [Internet]. Spiegel Wissenschaft. Full text in Research Archive
• Pedersen, Simen; Stokes, Allan William; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Odden, John & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2024). Mountain hare coat colour mismatch –are they able to keep up with the changing climate? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2024). What's happening with European Large Carnivores? - Current status and trends in populations. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2024). Imagining future forests in Europe – pluralistic approaches for multiple objectives. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2024). Challenges in Norwegian large carnivore management. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2024). The only constant is change: what large carnivore conservation tells us about career paths, teaching, interdisciplinary research and supporting policy. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Reconnectiong people and nature. What is the apropriate relationship between humans and wildlife? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Nadotti, Cristina (2023). Fermi tutti, babbo natale nqn ha quasi piu renne. [Journal]. Il Venerdi. Full text in Research Archive
• Panzacchi, Manuela & Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Fermi tutti, Babbo Natale non ha quasi più renne. [Journal]. Il Venerdi di Repubblica. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). The EU Review of Wolf Protection Status. [Internet]. Tommy's Outdoors Podcast. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Games without frontiers? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Stakeholders and marine restoration. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Scillitani, Laura (2023). La prima conferenza mondiale per la coesistenza con la fauna. [Internet]. Scienzainrete.it. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Wolves and livestock: stakeholders and science. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Misicka, Susan (2023). When it’s legal to shoot the wrong wolf. [Internet]. SWI swissinfo.ch. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Multiple dimensions of sustainability. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Gjerstadberget, Kari (2023). Ikke rør disse, selv om de ligger i hagen din! [Journal]. Glåmdalen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Geelen, Jean-Pierre (2023). Europese hekken tegen mensen belemmeren ook dieren, en dat is mogelijk in strijd met Europese regels. [Journal]. de Volkskrant. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). What future for large carnivores in Europe? Chasing the elusive state of coexistence. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Lahn, Knut-Erik (2023). Dette synet fikk Eivind til å sperre opp øynene - Veldig spesielt. [Journal]. Tønsberg Blad. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Vold, Liv Maren Mæhre (2023). Ulveangrepet: - Veldig spesiell hendelse. [Internet]. Tynsetingen Pluss. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Kristiansen, Emelie Kjærnli (2023). Jaktet tiur - fanget gaupe. [Journal]. Adresseavisen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Samfunnsutviklingen - betydning for hjorteviltforvaltningen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Birte, Bredow (2023). Drei tote Schafe – was über den Bären in Bayern bekannt ist. [Journal]. Spiegel Panorama. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Hillsdon, Mark (2023). Could biodiversity be a key to better forest carbon storage in Europe? [Internet]. Mongabay. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Krumenacker, Thomas (2023). Weg frei für die Jagd auf Wölfe in Europa? [Internet]. Spektrum.de. Full text in Research Archive
• Zimmermann, Alexandra; Pooley, Simon; Linnell, John Durrus; Glickman, Jenny A.; Marchini, Silvio & Hill, Catherine [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2023). Human-wildlife conflict: a global conservation challenge. In Zimmermann, Alexandra; Inskip, Chloe & Stevens, James (Ed.), IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISSN 9782831722344. p. 2–9. doi: 10.2305/YGIK2927. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wildlife can pose a direct threat to the safety, livelihood and well-being of people. Retaliation against the species blamed often ensues, leading to conflict between groups of people about what should be done to resolve the situation. Human-wildlife conflicts also negatively affect communities whose support for, and benefit from, wider conservation goals is easily eroded by recurring negative interactions with species close to their lands, fields and homes. Effective and sustainable methods to mitigate and manage these situations are elusive or are often not implemented in a socially or economically sustainable way. Each situation is different, with its own history and unique complications, limiting the transferability of methods for reducing the impacts of species as well as people’s behaviour. Human-wildlife conflicts involve recurring interactions between people and wildlife yet are always underpinned by social conflicts between groups of people. The species involved may include a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species – from large cats, bears, elephants, deer, primates, sharks, seals, crocodilians, snakes, rhinos and otters, to invertebrates and plants – and these can be of varying degrees of conservation concern. Typically, human-wildlife conflict cases involving threatened, iconic or well-known species attract the most attention, and in turn the highest volume of voices, opinions, arguments or media coverage. For example, although venomous snakes kill far more people each year in India than do Asian elephants, the latter inevitably tend to gather disproportionately more attention.

• Linnell, John Durrus & Brevik, Hilde-Christine (2023). Snøhvit eller Hvitveis? Se navneforslagene og stem fram det navnet du liker best. [Internet]. Tønsbergs Blad Pluss. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Nadotti, Cristina (2023). L'Ue rivede lo status di protezione dei lupi, ma l'obiettivo non è la conservazione. [Journal]. La Repubblica. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Living with success in wildlife conservation: does coexistence require active management? Full text in Research Archive
• Angoh, Siow Yan Jennifer; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Odden, John; Linnell, John Durrus & Brainerd, Scott Michael (2023). Forestry and environmental conditions as determinants of pine marten (Martes martes) occurrence in Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The pine marten Martes martes is a forest denizen often associated with late seral stage stands. Earlier research indicates that this species may be negatively impacted by modern forestry practices. However, the effects of current clearcutting methods upon pine marten occurrence in conjunction with changing environmental conditions are not well known. In this study, we combined four years of countrywide data from a long-term camera trap (CT) survey in Norway. We used a multi-scale occupancy model to investigate how pine marten occurrence at multiple spatial scales is related to clearcuts and forests over 120 years old. We additionally tested how pine marten occurrence responded to factors such as habitat features and temporal changes in the environment (e.g., snow depth and temperature). We found that pine martens occurred in most Norwegian landscapes, independent of the proportions of old forest and clearcuts. However, at the habitat patch scale, we found that pine marten occurrence was positively associated with the presence of old forest and terrain ruggedness, while there were no association with (nearby) clearcuts. At CT sites near clearcuts, the detection probability (which we interpret as the intensity of use of CT sites) was negatively correlated with snow depth. In contrast, we found a positive association with snow depth at CT sites without clearcuts nearby. Furthermore, the intensity of use increased with temperature and the presence of boulders near a CT. While old forest is important for pine martens, the current level and scale of clearcutting in Norway does not appear to be detrimental to the species’ occurrence at the landscape level. Also, habitat features and structures facilitating subterranean and subnivean access may mitigate the lack of old forests attributes. Snow depth and temperature may also influence how much pine martens rely on old forests.

• Linnell, John Durrus & García-Ajforín, Lola (2023). La Europa de los muros. [Internet]. El Confidencial. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Enger, Morten (2022). Pulsen steg noen hakk da jeg så den. [Journal]. Adresseasen Pluss. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Skjelten, Peder (2022). Kan bambi-effekten redde truga artar? [Journal]. Nationen. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Rønning, Asle Olav (2022). Store ideer. Trange nåløyer. [Journal]. Forskerforum. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Tales that were not included in the Jungle Book! World Development Perspectives. ISSN 2468-0532. 26. doi: 10.1016/j.wdp.2022.100420. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Halvorsen, Ola Jordheim (2022). Overskuddsfenomenet. [Journal]. Dagens Næringsliv. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Rønning, Asle Olav (2022). De søkte om forskningens toppmodell, men må nå vende tilbake til hverdagen. [Journal]. Forskforum. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & HENRIKSEN, CHRISTER ANDRÉ (2022). Se hva som dukket opp i Kåfjord. [Journal]. Framtid i Nord. Full text in Research Archive
• Stokes, Allan; Hofmeester, Tim R.; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Odden, John; Odden, Morten & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2022). The timing of mountain hare (Lepus timidus) coat colour change in Norway is determined by elevation and latitude. Full text in Research Archive
• Mattisson, Jenny; Linnell, John Durrus & Odden, John (2022). Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Weston, Phoebe (2022). The return of the wolf: how much do they help rebuild ecosystems? [Internet]. The Guardian. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Pearce, Fred (2022). How national border walls are splitting ecosystems apart. [Internet]. BBC. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Ulven i verden - om å leve med store rovdyr. Full text in Research Archive
• Oliveira, Teresa; Carricondo-Sanchez, David; Mattisson, Jenny; Voigt, Kristina; Corradini, Andrea & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2022). Predicting kill sites from an apex predator(Lynx lynx) in different multi-prey systems. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Large predator management in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Managing wildlife in multi-use landscapes: Human-Wildlife Conflicts and Coexistence. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Syverhuset, Anne Olga (2022). Få modeller for viltforvaltning egner seg i dagens verden. [Internet]. Hjortevilt.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Rewilding with large carnivores? Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Managing wildlife in multi-use landscapes: Human-Wildlife Conflicts & One Health. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus & Sesana, Ilaria (2022). L’impatto delle barriere europee anti-migranti sulla biodiversità. [Journal]. Altreconomia. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). Overvåkning av gaupe med viltkamera. Full text in Research Archive
• Linnell, John Durrus (2022). 30 years of lynx research in Norway: relevance for reintroduction in Scotland. Full text in Research Archive
• Carpentier, Cecile Agnes Edith; Linnell, John Durrus; Heurich, Marco Dietmar & Gimenez, Olivier (2026). Modelling prey dynamics in multi-predator systems: European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) persistence under predation by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and hunting in northern landscapes. Universitet i Innlandet / University of Inland Norway. ISSN 9788283806342. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  With the return of large carnivores to human-dominated landscapes, both humans and wild prey must adapt to this new environment, which brings increased predation pressure on prey and new conflicts between humans and carnivores. For wild ungulates, the combined effects of predation and human harvest can increase their vulnerability to population declines or even local extinction. This dissertation explores the drivers of roe deer persistence in a multi-predator Scandinavian system using complementary modelling approaches. The first two chapters investigate the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on roe deer populations, using two modelling approaches. Chapter I focuses on the cumulative effects of predation, hunting, and stochastic climatic events, while also exploring, in a relatively general and theoretical framework, the role of immigration and landscape refuges on roe deer population persistence using a matrix population model. This chapter emphasises the importance of additive mortality sources and highlights the existence of underlying mechanisms that enable the deer population to persist. Chapter II focuses in more detail on how spatial heterogeneity in mortality risk at the individual level influences population dynamics using a spatial individual-based model, highlighting the importance of refuges, movement, and spatial variation in risk in a multi-predator context. The final two chapters investigate the role of human harvest in predator-prey systems. Chapter III discusses the relevance of a century-old principle for modern wildlife management, particularly in mitigating human-carnivore conflicts. Chapter IV evaluates different harvest strategies in the lynx-roe deer system using a coupled predator-prey matrix model. The results show that even relatively simple heuristic strategies that adaptively harvest both predator and prey to changing population densities improve the stability and persistence of both populations compared to non-adaptive approaches. Combining complementary modelling approaches, this dissertation provides key insights into the mechanisms underlying predator-prey dynamics and highlights the importance of integrating predation, harvest, and spatial processes for the sustainable management of wildlife in human-dominated landscapes.

• Vangen, Knut Morten; Krange, Olve; Mattisson, Jenny; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Tveraa, Torkild & Linnell, John Durrus [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Faggrunnlag for utredning av bestandsmål for gaupe og jerv. Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). ISSN 9788242655226. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Vangen, K.M., Krange, O., Mattisson, J., Thorsen, N.H., Tveraa, T., Linnell, J.D. & Odden, J. 2025. Faggrunnlag for utredning av bestandsmål for gaupe og jerv. NINA Rapport 2693. Norsk institutt for naturforskning. http://hdl.handle.net/11250/5329360 Denne rapporten gir et faglig grunnlag for å vurdere endringer i de regionale bestandsmålene for gaupe og jerv i rovviltregion 6, 7 og 8. Bakgrunnen er et politisk ønske om å redusere belastningen på reindriften, samtidig som Norge skal oppfylle sine nasjonale og internasjonale forpliktelser om å sikre levedyktige bestander av store rovdyr. Dagens nasjonale bestandsmål, 65 årlige familiegrupper av gaupe og 39 ynglinger av jerv, ble fastsatt av Stortinget i 2004 og har ligget fast siden. Rapportens mandat er å vurdere tre mulige alternativer: en generell reduksjon av de nasjonale bestandsmålene, en omfordeling av de eksisterende målene for å redusere artenes relative forekomst i de nordlige regionene, eller å beholde dagens situasjon uendret. Genetisk og demografisk levedyktighet til bestandene av gaupe og jerv i Skandinavia avhenger av størrelsen på samlet bestand og fungerende genflyt mellom Norge og Sverige og videre østover mot Finland og Russland. Begge arter viser lave nivåer av genetisk variasjon i Skandinavia, og kontakt med den finsk russiske bestanden anses som avgjørende for å opprettholde langsiktig levedyktighet. Norge er forpliktet gjennom Bernkonvensjonen og naturmangfoldloven til å sikre at forvaltningen ikke svekker denne langsiktige bevaringen av artene. Reindriften foregår på nær halvparten av Fastlands Norge, og i store deler av region 6, 7 og 8 overlapper tamreinens sesongbeiter med leveområdene for gaupe og jerv. Tap til rovvilt er betydelige og utgjør en belastning for næringen. Samtidig viser forskning og analyser fra Reinbase.no at tapene i stor grad påvirkes av tetthet, kondisjon og klimatiske forhold i reinflokkene, faktorer som ofte forklarer mer av variasjonen i tap enn antall rovdyr i området. Beregnede tap per familiegruppe av gaupe og yngling av jerv varierer betydelig avhengig av tilgang på rein vinterstid, kalvevekter og alternative byttedyr, og usikkerheten er stor. Dette innebærer at effekten av å redusere rovviltbestandene vil variere og ofte være begrenset. Region 7 og 8 har gjennomgående hatt større utfordringer med å nå bestandsmålene for gaupe, og de nordligste regionene krever store arealer for å opprettholde et gitt antall familiegrupper sammenlignet med rådyrrike områder lenger sør. Arealanalysene i rapporten viser at rovviltregionene i Sør Norge har kapasitet til å romme flere ynglinger av både gaupe og jerv enn dagens mål tilsier. Vi anbefaler ikke en reduksjon av de nasjonale bestandsmålene. Dette vil svekke sikkerhetsmarginene for langsiktig levedyktighet i allerede genetisk sårbare skandinaviske rovviltbestander, og kunne komme i konflikt med Bernkonvensjonen og naturmangfoldloven. En reduksjon i norske bestandsmål vil også gjøre det vanskeligere for Sverige å oppfylle sine forpliktelser under EUs habitatdirektiv, og vi er avhengige av et tett samarbeid med Sverige. Vi mener at det kan være aktuelt å vurdere alternative løsninger med omfordeling av bestandsmål mellom rovviltregioner, forutsatt at de nasjonale bestandsmålene for gaupe og jerv opprettholdes uendret. En slik omfordeling endrer ikke totalbestanden og anses å være i tråd med både biologiske hensyn og internasjonale forpliktelser. Som et forslag har vi diskutert å redusere bestandsmålet med to familiegrupper av gaupe og to ynglinger av jerv i region 8 og å fjerne kravet om fire familiegrupper og tre ynglinger i Finnmark. I tillegg har vi vurdert en reduksjon på to familiegrupper av gaupe og to ynglinger av jerv i region 7. Vurderingene bygger blant annet på at region 7 i dag benytter en relativt stor andel av tilgjengelig areal for å oppnå dagens mål for gaupe, mens region 8 har en stor andel tamrein på beite. Det er viktig at en reduksjon i bestandsmål ikke kommer i konflikt med behovet for å sikre tilstrekkelig genflyt på tvers av landegrensene. Vi vurderer at en bestand på åtte familiegrupper av gaupe og åtte ynglinger av jerv både i region 7 og 8 vil kunne sikre konnektivitet mot bestandene i øst. Vi foreslår at bestandsmålet for gaupe økes tilsvarende med fire familiegrupper i region 1, 2, 3 og eller 4. Regionene har mye tilgjengelig areal. Dette er produktive regioner der gaupene i stor grad kan leve av rådyr og hjort. Samtlige regioner i Sør Norge har nok areal til å øke bestandsmålene for jerv, men vi foreslår at bestandsmålet økes med fire ynglinger i region 4 og eller 5. Disse regionene har store skogsområder tilgjengelig for jerv nesten uten frittgående beitedyr eller andre konflikter. Vi foreslår ikke å endre bestandsmålet i rovviltregion 6. Regionen har betydelige tilgjengelige arealer, inkludert store områder uten samisk tamreindrift. Regionen har dermed gode muligheter til å omfordele familiegrupper og ynglinger internt for å redusere belastning på reindriften, for eksempel til områder lenger sør og vest der gaupa i stor grad kan basere seg på rådyr og hjort. Til slutt anbefaler vi økt grenseoverskridende forvaltningssamarbeid med Sverige og Finland, videreutvikling av genetisk overvåking, samt prosesser som integrerer både vitenskapelig kunnskap og reindriftas erfaringsbaserte kunnskap. Dette er nødvendig for å sikre en bærekraftig og kunnskapsbasert forvaltning av gaupe og jerv i hele den fennoskandiske utbredelsen av de to artene.

• Linnell, John Durrus & Boitani, Luigi (2025). Developing methodology for setting Favourable Reference Values for large carnivores in Europe. Report to the European Comission under contract N° 09.0201/2023/907799/SER/ENV.D.3 “Support for Coexistence with Large Carnivores. Task B.3 – Assessment of large carnivores’ conservation status”. IUCN/SSC Large Carnivore initiative for Europe(LCIE)/ Istituto di Ecologia Applicata. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  needed to assess Favourable Conservation Status (FCS), for the specific context of large carnivores (brown bear, Eurasian lynx, wolf, wolverine, golden jackal) in Europe. The work builds on the Guidelines for Population Level Management of Large Carnivores in Europe report that was published in 2008, but takes into account new developments in conservation science, new case law, experience with their implementation, and the rapid development of the conservation status of large carnivores. The need for these guidelines is underlined by the fact that until now relatively few member states have set quantitative values for their FRVs, and there is a massive degree in variation in the scientific basis for those that have. The need for specific guidance on large carnivores stems from both their specific ecology, with wide ranging movements and transboundary populations, and from their complex and often conflictful relationship with humans. In the report we explore the conceptual basis for setting FRVs. This involves trying to align best-practice and current scientific concepts with the legal / administrative language of the Habitat Directives and associated guidance documents. In recent years conservation science has made important developments in multiple relevant areas, including a shift away from the science of avoiding extinction to a science of planning for species recovery and long term persistence. This involves a focus on building representation of ecological conditions and building resiliency to changing environments, at least in part by ensuring redundancy. It also involves a greater focus on the long term genetics of populations in addition to shorter term demographic aspects. It is also important to recognise that conservation science has made important steps in mapping and understanding the diverse

• Odden, John; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Mattisson, Jenny; Rivrud, Inger Maren; Tvete, Karl Ove & Støen, Ole-Gunnar [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2025). Scandlynx. Statusrapport 2023-2024. Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). ISSN 9788242653970. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Forskningsprosjektet Scandlynx studerte gauper fra midten av 1990-tallet fram til 2016 med ulike typer VHF- eller GPS-sendere. Etter en pause på noen år fikk vi i 2023 midler gjennom Miljødirektoratets system for finansiering av løpende FoU-aktivitet knyttet til forvaltningens kunnskapsbehov på rovviltfeltet. Denne rapporten presenterer resultatene fra de første to årene med basisfinansiering. I tillegg har prosjektet mottatt støtte fra Statsforvalteren i Innlandet samt Statsforvalteren i Østfold, Buskerud, Oslo og Akershus. I Norge reguleres gaupebestanden gjennom årlig kvotejakt, med mål om å holde den stabil innenfor fastsatte bestandsmål i de ulike forvaltningsregionene. Likevel har bestanden i enkelte regioner ikke økt som forventet uten kvotejakt. En bærekraftig forvaltning av gaupe krever økt forståelse av de mekanismene som styrer bestandsutviklingen. En mulig forklaring er hvordan landskapsendringer påvirker gaupas spredning og rekolonisering. Siden 2023 har prosjektet derfor hatt som mål å kartlegge landskapets permeabilitet – altså hvor tilgjengelig det er for gaupe – og identifisere mulige spredningskorridorer i områder med høy infrastruktur. I tillegg har vi studert gaupas predasjonsmønstre, overlevelse og reproduksjon. Data fra GPS-merkede hunngauper med unger vil også bidra til å evaluere overvåkingssystemet. For å undersøke disse forholdene har vi utstyrt 19 gauper med GPS-sendere i Sørøst-Norge siden 2023. Fire voksne hunngauper i fylkene rundt Oslo har beveget seg over arealer fra 183 km² til 248 km² i løpet av studieperioden (beregnet med 100 % MCP). Hanngaupene har hatt større områder, fra 458 km² til 1145 km². Så langt har vi fulgt fire familiegrupper gjennom hele eller deler av registreringssesongen, og samtlige har blitt fanget opp av overvåkingssystemet. Vi har gjennomført ni intensivperioder på åtte hanngauper i totalt 132 døgn der senderne har tatt en posisjon hvert tjuende minutt i hele perioden. Vi har gjennomført byttedyrundersøkelser og kontrollert alle klustre i disse periodene, og funnet 39 byttedyr drept av gaupene. Utenom intensivperiodene har gaupene tatt en posisjon annenhver time. Vi har sett etter byttedyr utenom de intensive periodene, og det har blitt lagt ned en betydelig innsats av lokale samarbeidspartnere og NINA personell. Totalt har vi besøkt 924 kluster og fulgt gaupene ekstensivt gjennom 1873 gaupedager. I disse periodene har vi registrert 417 byttedyr. Rådyr var det klart mest drepte byttedyret, men gaupene har også drept hjort, sau og småvilt.

• Kaczensky, Petra; Ranc, Nathan; Hatlauf, Jennifer; Payne, John C.; Acosta-Pankov, I. & Álvares, F. [Show all 56 contributors for this article] (2024). Large carnivore distribution maps and population updates 2017 – 2022/23. Report to the European Comission under contract N° 09.0201/2023/907799/SER/ENV.D.3 “Support for Coexistence with Large Carnivores”, “B.4 Update of the distribution maps”. IEA. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Large carnivores have made a remarkable comeback in Europe during the last half century, and recovery is still ongoing in large parts of the continent (Andrén 2018; Boitani 2018; Boitani et al. 2022; Chapron et al. 2014; Huber 2018; Ranc 2018; von Arx 2020). While this expansion can be celebrated as a huge conservation success, it also creates considerable challenges for coexistence in the multi-use landscapes of Europe (Linnell 2013). Having a common understanding of the distribution, size and trends of large carnivore populations in Europe is one prerequisite for a knowledge-based dialogue in the often heated and highly politicized discussions about future scenarios of large carnivore conservation and management in Europe. Because of the scale at which large carnivores utilize the landscape it is essential to conduct periodic continental scale assessments of their status transcending sub-national and national borders. Assessments at this scale require harmonising diverse datasets that arise from different jurisdictions using different monitoring approaches. This document provides the best available overview of brown bear (Ursus arctos), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), wolf (Canis lupus), golden jackal (Canis aureus), and wolverine (Gulo gulo) distributions and population sizes at a continental scale. The data in this report is based on over 200 national experts who are co-authoring the report

• Linnell, John Durrus & Immerzeel, Bart (2023). The potential for large carnivore-based wildlife tourism in Norway: a critical review. Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). ISSN 9788242649607. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  wildlife, large carnivore, bear, wolf, lynx, wolverine, tourism, conflict

• Odden, John; Thorsen, Neri Horntvedt; Tvete, Karl Ove; Bahlk, Sunniva Helene & Linnell, John Durrus (2023). Intensiv overvåking av gaupe med kamerafeller på Nordmøre 2022. Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). ISSN 9788242651013. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Gaupe, Lynx lynx, overvåking, kamerafeller, viltkamera. Møre- og Romsdal, Trøndelag

• Kavčič, Irena; Álvares, Francisco; Boitani, Luigi; Borgna, Irene; Iliopoulos, Yorgos & Krofel, Miha [Show all 16 contributors for this article] (2022). Non-consumptive use of wolves in tourism: guidelines for responsible practices [Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe IUCN/SSC Specialist Group] Specialist Group. University of Ljubljana. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In many early European cultures, humans shared an overall positive view of the wolf (Boitani, 1995; Boitani and Ciucci, 2009). But this changed with the anthropocentric view of nature brought about by Christianity as well as with the process of domestication and the advent of extensive animal husbandry (Boitani, 1995). Wolves were then strongly persecuted, leading to their extirpation in almost all their former range across the continent. In the last few decades, however, wolves have returned to many parts of Europe from which they had been absent for centuries. Their recovery impacts a range of human activities and interests and is accompanied by a variety of social conflicts and diverging points of view on how wolves should be managed (Boitani and Linnell, 2015; Linnell and Cretois, 2018). Conflicts and the negative economic impacts of wolf damage to livestock are the most pressing problems for wolf management today. Public debate and academic research on wolf–human relations tend to focus on these issues (Rode et al., 2021). The ecological roles of wolves in ecosystem structure and functioning are increasingly recognized (Hebbelwhite et al., 2005; Kuijper et al., 2013). However, although predator-prey interactions are highly contextdependent, most studies on this topic have been undertaken in large, natural landscapes. In most of Europe, human actions attenuate the ecological effects of large carnivores (Kuijper et al., 2016). Nevertheless, new values and the potential social benefits of human–wolf coexistence are underappreciated. Wolves are an important generator of culture, ethnography and tradition (Álvares et al., 2011) and their presence brings educational and research benefits, income from regional and product marketing, as well as socio-economic benefits from wildlife tourism (Rode et al., 2021). Different forms of tourism associated with wolves, such as wolf watching, photographing, or observing signs of their presence have already been practiced for a couple of decades in North America (Wilson and Heberlein, 1996) and to a lesser extent in Europe (Koščová and Koščová, 2016; Bavo and Villar Lama, 2020; Notaro and Grilli, 2021). Although tourism can increase the value of the species locally, such activities can also have negative impacts on wolves and their habitat, especially with the growing demand for wildlife tourism (Curtin and Kragh, 2014). The following guidelines were prepared by members of the LIFE WOLFALPS EU project group and the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe expert group of the IUCN/SSC to set specific recommendations for responsible non-consumptive use of wolves in tourism which has as little impact on wolves as possible. The aim of these guidelines is to promote tourism activities that go beyond direct sightings of wildlife by focusing on wolf presence and wolf-related cultural heritage, creating economic opportunities for local communities in areas with wolves and consequently leading to increased tolerance towards this species.

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