Data from: Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes

The conservation of large carnivores is a formidable challenge for
biodiversity conservation. Using a data set on the past and current status
of brown bears (Ursus arctos), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), gray wolves
(Canis lupus), and wolverines (Gulo gulo) in European countries, we show
that roughly one-third of mainland Europe hosts at least one large
carnivore species, with stable or increasing abundance in most cases in
21st-century records. The reasons for this overall conservation success
include protective legislation, supportive public opinion, and a variety
of practices making coexistence between large carnivores and people
possible. The European situation reveals that large carnivores and people
can share the same landscape.