Europe's Keystone Species Return! It’s A Tale of Beavers and Cats!
Back from the brink of extinction! Iberian Lynx, mom with kitten in Soain. Lynx female kittens may remain with their moms for up to 20 months. Image: ©Ondřej Prosický
Roberta Kravette, Co-Founder Destination: Wildlife
Wildlife in Europe? Oh, please.
On the continent of Mozart and Beethoven, Da Vinci, and Michaelangelo, fashion and haute cuisine? Wildlife? Where are the carnivores and their nimble-footed prey? Where are the beasts that make the ground rumble? Who ever heard of a European safari?
Well, you might be surprised.
Europe’s Biodiversity Once Rivaled Africa’s
Historically, Europe's biodiversity was impressive. Its forests, tundra, chaparral, mountains, and grassland were home to all manner of wildlife: bears and bison, wolves and wolverine, lynx, elk, moose – and the list goes on, but for centuries, most have been absent – hunted to extinction.
Many of Europe's extirpated animals are keystone species; losing even one touches off a downward spiral of environmental degradation. Over time, as keystone species disappear, the ecosystems they help create change, and other dependent species die out, too. Biodiversity plummets. Once fecund forests become monocultures, lush wetlands disappear, and the beautiful landscape becomes unproductive and empty.
The Quest to Rewild Europe is a Co-operative Effort
Europe's Green movement started in the 1960s and '70s, was fueled in the last few decades by a desire to restore lost biodiversity (and help mitigate climate change) and has benefitted from a surge of cooperation between governments, NGOs, and communities – along with a few "wild" cards.
Species long gone or on the verge of regional extinction (see our article on Southern Spain’s birds) are being reintroduced - rewilded - into restored habitats. Success has been mixed with challenges in the form of community pushback, fractured habitat, continued hunting and poaching, and lack of genetic diversity. Still, today's Europe is wilder and ecologically healthier than when it welcomed our new Century.
Can art, culture, and nature thrive together? Europe is proving the answer is a resounding Yes!
It may be time for that European safari, after all!
Please note: Despite its withdrawal from the EU, we include Britain as part of Europe for this story.
Welcoming Home Three Europeans:
Two Cats and a Beaver. A Beaver?
What animal can create ecosystems, help mitigate drought, and protect against wildlife? Beaver! EU and US governments are beginning to appreciate the little guy’s work. Image: ©Andreaobzerova
Eurasian Beavers – Yes, They’re Key (stone)
Former Range: Across Great Britain and Europe
Last Seen: Gone from Great Britain since the 12/13th Century, and from Scotland since the 16th Century,
(Almost) Gone from Continental Europe by 1900.
When Was the Last Time You Thought About Beavers?
Admittedly, beavers don't come up in conversation much. But for one man, these eco-engineers became a calling.
All but extinct in Europe for two-plus centuries, beavers are once again recreating vital wetland habitats, an oasis for long-gone flora, fauna, and migrating birds! One good example, Belgium, beaver-less since 1848, is now proud home to a bounteous bunch – but how did they get there? Belgium was bombed.
The Bombing of Belgium
Eurasian Beavers, (Castor fibir) are slightly larger and heavier than beavers in the western hemisphere, (Castor cannendensis) both were hunted almost to extinction. Image: ©Avslt 71
It seems that in 1998, one Olivier Rubbers, 29, stumbled onto a magazine article explaining that beavers, indigenous across Europe, including Belgium, had been hunted to extinction. Angered by the annihilation of Belgium's beavers, Rubbers hatched a plan. He would Robin-Hood beavers back into Belgium from elsewhere and deliver them to riparian regions currently devoid.
But, Rubbers' resolve was not enough, he needed the rodents.
Careful reconnaissance beckoned to Bavaria and one, Gerhard Schwab. A foremost beaver expert, Schwab is also known as the "Beaver Godfather." Rubbers obtained a bevy of Schwab's Bavarian beavers, then covertly carried them across the borders and deposited them (under cover of darkness?) into Belgium's beaver-less rivers, where they settled right in. Success! The Beaver Bombing of Belgium had begun!
As for Mr. Schwab, his contribution to the clandestine course was so crucial that he was dubbed "The Pablo Escobar of Beavers." Thanks to Rubber's rodent rewilding, Belgian's beaver population is booming, with colonies in Flanders, Wallonia, Leuven, and recently in Brussels!
Elsewhere, beaver sightings are being reported in Italy after 500 years. Was Italy bombed? Where is Rubbers?
A protected beaver dam somewhere in Germany. Could this be where the Belgium bombed beavers orginated? No one is telling. Image: ©Prillfoto
Why Are Beavers Important? Biodiversity, Water and Fire
Beavers are ecosystem engineers. Their landscape-changing dams slow and change water flow, creating wetlands that attract flora, other mammals like martins and otters, birds, bats, and amphibians including endangered species. Over time, beavers restore and rebalance entire ecosystems.
Additionally, beaver dams are a natural water filtration system, helping to block contaminates from downstream waters. Water stored behind the dams helps resupply aquafers below. According to One Earth, a science-based not-for-profit, "When beavers and their dams are present, 160% more open water is available during … drought."
As Wildfire Becomes a Bigger Threat - Enter the Beaver
Allowing beavers to colonize has another unexpected benefit: discouraging wildfires.
First documented by Anabranch Solutions after the Sharp's fire in Idaho (US), their technical report stated, "Where active beaver dams were present, native riparian vegetation persisted, unburnt." Beaver habitat prohibited the fire spread. (California's governor signed a beaver reintroduction bill in September 2024)
As climate change heats the Earth and devastating wildfires increase, reintroducing beavers into their former ranges could help protect property and lives. Oh, and the restored habitat sequesters more carbon – a win for the entire planet.
Beavers are pure herbivores, but the environement they create helps young fish and amphibians thrive. Image ©Frank Fichtmueller
An Unlikely Partisan
One last beaver benefit - for Homeland Security - has recently come to light. Historically, farming communities North of Kiev, Ukraine, regularly destroyed beaver dams as annoyances on their farmland. Then, the Russians invaded. Suddenly, the locals had other priorities, and the forgotten beavers got busy building and creating marshland, challenging terrain, it seems, for invading tanks. Beavers haven't stopped the Russians, but in some communities, they made it far more difficult for them.
Where European Beavers Are Reintroduced or Protected
After 500 years, beaver colonies again thrive in Scotland, and elsewhere in Britain, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Latvia – and of course, Belgium. And England’s Cairngorms National Park has a plan for beaver reintroduction. Learn more here.
Best Places in Europe to See Reintroduced Beavers:
The Oder River Delta between Germany and Poland in the Peene Valley near Anklam, Germany. Soonwald-Nahe Nature Park. Nordsjaelland, Dronningholm Bog by Arreso has an accessible beaver observation shelter! Wigry Park, Poland, and in Spain, where they were also surreptitiously released, they can be found in La Rioja, Navarre, Zaragoza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pamplona, Mezalocha, the province of Soria, and in Andalucia in the Guadalquivir River basin near the towns of Villatorres and Torreblascopedro in the province of Jaen. Need more ideas? Contact Oliver Rubbers 😀
The Eurasian Lynx: Europe’s Ghost Cat Returns
Eurasian Lynx in the Czech Republic The Eurasian Lynx is the larger of the two lynx species found (again!) in Europe, and has more subtle coloration. Image: ©Ondřej Prosický
Two of the world's four Lynx species are native to Europe: The Eurasian Lynx and the Iberian Lynx – and both were nearly extirpated.
Forest Ghosts! They appear wherever wild places and human storytellers meet, gliding silently among the shadows, disappearing in a moment – leaving you wondering if they were there at all. Every continent and every culture has its “Forest Ghost” myth, but in Northern Europe, a cat takes the ghostly crown: the Eurasian Lynx.
Historically, the softly colored, larger Eurasian Lynx (up to 66 lbs/30 k vs. the Iberian's 35 lbs/15.8k) could be found across Europe's main forest and steppe areas. They disappeared from Central Europe over 200 years ago, and from Western Europe shortly thereafter, leaving only small, isolated islands of lynx populations in Scandinavia, Romania, the Baltics, and Russia.
In the early 1970s, France and Switzerland began Eurasian Lynx reintroductions, but the highly fragmented Alpine habitats and weak (farm) community acceptance brought limited success. However, similar programs were also instituted in Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, and Poland, a good thing. As the WWF says, "Successful conservation of the lynx will require strong pan-Alpine coordination as no single Alpine country can support a long-term viable lynx population on its own."
Eurasian Lynx reintroductions are progressing, helped by the EU's LIFE projects and ReWilding Europe, a not-for-profit, pan-European initiative established in 2011 to rewild Europe at scale. Still, challenges, including the lack of genetic diversity, remain great for Eurasian Lynx recovery.
Wild Eurasian Lynx on the hunt in a German Forest. Image: Ondřej Prosecký
The Best Places in Europe to Look For Wild Eurasian Lynx
Rewilding Europe suggests Romania’s Southern Carpathian Mountains, the Velebit Mountains of Croatia, the Oder Delta between Germany and Poland, and north into Sweden’s Lapland region For the Iberian Lynx - keep reading!
A Cat Caper in the United Kingdom
In the UK, there are ongoing discussions to commence similar Eurasian Lynx reintroductions (extinct there for 1000+ years) amid much controversy and public debate, but organizations such as Trees for Life, SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, and The Lifescape's Project: The Missing Lynx support the initiative. Proponents hope eventual lynx reintroduction will balance ecosystems, restore natural processes – and, as in Spain, bring (responsible) wildlife tourism dollars to communities (we made a note!)
Was the UK Bombed?
Interestingly, in a bow to the Beaver Bomber, a covert criminal campaign was uncovered in early January of this year. Trail cameras captured two contraband cat couples at Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands. Who illicitly left the lively lynx is currently a conundrum. But authorities were not amused.
The cats, who did not seem to be especially wary of humans, a very negative indicator for wildlife survival, were humanely captured but not fast enough to avoid cat-astrophe. Sadly, one of the re-captured cats later died. Authorities speculated that the lynx had been illegal pets, unceremoniously dumped. Habituated wildlife rarely survives in the wild. Support rewildling, but let the experts handle the process! The wildlife will have a greater chance to thrive.
The Best Place to See Wild Lynx in Britain is currently… a zoo – but stay tuned!
The call for Lynx (and wild cat) reintroduction is heating up across Britain and Scotland.
The Iberian Lynx – A Miracle Story!
Once almost extinct in Spain, wild Iberian Lynx are back thanks to captive breeding, habitat restoration - and a lot of hard work. Image: Gerry Griffith of Avian Adventures and Christian Jensen Audouin.
In 2001, the Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx, with fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild (only 25 breeding-age females), was looking extinction in the eye. While rampant hunting, habitat degradation, and vehicle strikes contributed to their rapid decline, still, the deadliest challenge to their survival was a viral rabbit disease (myxomatosis) that wiped out nearly 90% of its main prey.
According to The International Society for Endangered Cats, Iberian Lynx are habitat and prey specialists, with wild rabbits making up 73-90% of their diet (although they will bring down a small doe or other prey.) An adult feeding kittens needs a minimum of three rabbits per day. In 2001, things looked very grim for the Iberian Lynx’s survival.
Rabbits Hold the Key for this Keystone Cat
Iberian lynx will take down a small doe, but their main prey are wild rabbits. Image: ©Ondřej Prosický
Preventing the Iberian Lynx extinction was a complicated process. Simultaneous captive breeding and habitat restoration, including increasing healthy wild rabbit populations, were imperative.
Today, thanks to a battery of national, international, and local conservation measures and community cooperation, not to mention their own craving for copulation, wild Iberian Lynx number about 2000 cats. Says Javier Salcedo Ortez, coordinator for the EU Funded Life Lynz Project, “The greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation (...) is the result of committed collaboration between public bodies, scientific institutions, NGOs, private companies, and community members including local landowners, farmers, gamekeepers, and hunters.”
The Iberian Lynx is not out of the woods yet. The past challenges have not gone away, and added to them are the fast-changing climate and the threat of more frequent wildfires.
Although the Iberian Lynx is still one of the planet's most endangered feline species, the IUCN recently relisted them, upgrading from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable. A significant accomplishment and reason for celebration! That is the power of people coming together for the environment and species!
Why Reintroduce Lynx?
A relatively small, shy, mostly nocturnal predator, the Lynx helps to control browsers and grazers in its environment, allowing for healthier herds and more biodiverse flora – which, in turn, encourages more biodiversity in fauna and insects.
Lynx in the ecosystem keeps small mammals in balance and helps stop the spread of disease.
In Spain and Portugal, local communities are already reaping the benefits as tourism for the charismatic cats brings much-needed commerce to local communities. I cannot wait to see them myself!
Best Place to Look For An Iberian Lynx
Donaña National Park, Spain
Next up: Europe’s Wolves and Bison - can you feel the thunder?
Iberian Lynx takes a last look before melting into the night. Image: ©Ondřej Prosický