IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Anonymous, | |
| Large Carnivore in the Caucasus | |
| 2010 Full Book | |
The Workshop on Large Carnivores in the Caucasus was held in Tbilissi (Georgia) on 18th May, in the framework of an International Bear Association Conference. The aim of the working session was to make proposals to the Standing Committee to the Bern Convention on priorities on large carnivore work in the region. The Caucasus ecological region - shared by Russian Federation, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iran - is recognised as a global hotspot for biodiversity conservation. Four of the countries are contracting parties of the Bern Convention: Armenia, Azerbaijan1, Georgia, and Turkey. As a consequence of the political situation of the Caucasus countries and the imperative need for economic development in the whole region, biodiversity conservation faces considerable challenges in the entire ecoregion. A particular problem face species such as large carnivores, which require large areas to maintain viable populations and hence need a transboundary approach in conservation. Recent socio-economic transitions and changes in land use have partly increased the wildlife-human conflict. Large carnivores were special targets of this conflict, as they were suffering from decreasing availability of wild prey as a consequence of declining wild ungulate populations and from increased persecution when preying on (privatised) livestock herds. The Caucasus hosts four large carnivore species listed in the Bern Convention, namely brown bear _Ursus arctos_, wolf _Canis lupus_, leopard _Panthera pardus _(all listed in Appendix II), and Eurasian lynx _Lynx lynx _(Appendix III). As in western and central Europe, populations of these species are transboundary, and it is evident that only cooperation among the Caucasian country will allow conserving and sustainably managing viable population. |
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