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  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, Slovakia
    KWO-080616538_Ziesel.jpg
  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, Slovakia
    KWO-080616479_Ziesel_c.jpg
  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, Slovakia
    KWO-080616409_Ziesel-Familie.jpg
  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, near Strazne, Slovakia
    KWO-080616191_Ziesel.jpg
  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, Slovakia
    KWO-080616183_Ziesel.jpg
  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, Slovakia
    KWO-080616504_Ziesel.jpg
  • Ziesel-Familie, Spermophilus citellus, Ost-Slowakei / Souslik family, Spermophilus citellus, East Slovakia
    KWO-080616240_Ziesel.jpg
  • Red Deer (Cervus elaphus), Klampenborg Dyrehave, Denmark. Fenced reserve enclosure.<br />
<br />
Bugling red deer stag (Cervus elaphus), DENMARK/KLAMPENBORG, COPENHAGEN. The red deer is the most emblematic of all European animals. It is depicted in countless cave paintings, rock carvings, and in the coats-of-arms of noblemen, towns, regions and businesses. It lives in many habitats from treeless moorlands to semi-desert, but was hunted to, and in some areas over the verge of extinction. During the 1800s and 1900s the red deer survived in many countries only in large royal hunting grounds, like the one where this photo was taken. It is now coming back in great numbers, thanks to reintroductions and more sensible hunting regulations. During the fall mating season, also known as “the rut”, the red deer stags use a brawling call to advertise their territory and attract the females.
    FMO_20080924_16-42-26_MG_5050_noise-...jpg
  • White-eye bream , Ballerus sapa, or Abramis Sapa in the reeds. Widespread in many large rivers in Europe. Freshwater fish, up to 35 cm long. Swedish: Donaubraxen (Abramis sapa). Danube Delta, Romania
    MLU_20130619_094051_32.jpg
  • White-eye bream , Ballerus sapa, or Abramis Sapa. Widespread in many large rivers in Europe. Freshwater fish, up to 35 cm long. Swedish: Donaubraxen (Abramis sapa). Danube Delta, Romania
    MLU_20130618_175955_57.jpg
  • Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica SPAIN/PEÑA DE FRANCIA MONASTERY, SALAMANCA PROVINCE, CASTILLA Y LEÓN The Iberian ibex are rare and shy all across the Sierra de Francia mountain chain, but suddenly, when you reach the lands of the Monastery of Peña de Francia, they are instead very numerous and very tame. Why is that? Because here they are not hunted. Which also means that what you see here is probably the normal, natural numbers of ibex, and that means hundreds. It also shows that wild animals quickly learn where they are not hunted and then can become much more relaxed in their relation with humans. Hunted to near-extinction, the Iberian ibex is now returning in strong numbers and slowly spreading, all due to strictly enforced protection measures. The ibex population in Spain has increased from fewer than 5,000 individuals in 1980, to an estimated 50–60,000 today. A major conservation success! The first Iberian ibex are now also returning to Portugal, where the local subspecies was wiped out as recently as the year 2000. Many areas in Portugal and Spain are still waiting for reintroductions to speed up that recovery – among them Rewilding Europe’s focus areas Sierra de Gata and Campanarios de Azába in Spain, together with Faia Brava and the Côa Valley in Portugal. The ibex was once one of the most important browsers and grazers all across Southern and Alpine Europe, living comfortably from sea level all the way up to the highest Alps, filling an ecological niche which for the last 5,000 years has been occupied by the domestic sheep. Photo: Staffan Widstrand/Wild Wonders of Europe
    SWD-2011-05-17-135821 outdoor.jpg
  • Cork oak mosaique landscape PORTUGAL/FAIA BRAVA NATURE RESERVE, CÔA VALLEY, DOURO The Faia Brava reserve is part of the greater Côa valley and one of the wildest areas in Portugal. Here the traditional small-scale agriculture and shepherd life is rapidly disappearing and lands are becoming abandoned. In 2011, Portugal had some 2 million hectares of abandoned farmland, and across the EU each year another million hectares of low-yield farm and pasture lands are being abandoned. This has many reasons, but mainly it seems to be because young Europeans simply don’t want to be goatherds, shepherds or subsistence farmers any more, instead preferring the more comfortable life in a town or a city. The old farm and pasture lands now rapidly turn into dense bush, and a lot of species disappear that are connected to the open landscapes. The risk for devastating forest fires also increases a lot with much more dry bush matter available in the landscape. The Rewilding Europe initiative is about trying to turn these problems into opportunities instead. Can we use nature in new ways, that might be even more respectful to nature itself and at the same time more profitable for man? Especially since several of the traditional ways most obviously are not working anymore in quite large areas of Europe. The Faia Brava nature reserve is part of the Rewilding Europe initiative and it is owned and run by Associação Transumância e Natureza (ATN). The Côa valley is the largest outdoor rock carving site in Europe, with carvings dating from 35,000 years ago up to present. The main theme of these carvings is very clear: aurochs, wild horses, ibex and red deer. All of them extinct today in the area, but also all on the list for reintroduction through the Rewilding Europe initiative. Photo: Staffan Widstrand/Wild Wonders of Europe
    SWD-2011-05-12-210830 outdoor.jpg
  • Bugling red deer stag, Cervus elaphus, DENMARK/KLAMPENBORG, COPENHAGEN, The red deer is the most emblematic of all European animals. It is depicted in countless cave paintings, rock carvings, and in the coats-of-arms of noblemen, towns, regions and businesses. It lives in habitats from treeless moorlands to semi-deserts, but was hunted to, and in some areas over the verge of extinction. During the 1800s the red deer survived in many countries only in large royal hunting grounds, like the one where this photo was taken. It is now coming back in numbers, thanks to reintroductions and better hunting regulations.
    FMO_20080925_07-24-12_DSC4862_noise-...jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-164340.jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-164152.jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-141832.jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-141813.jpg
  • Matterhorn 4,478 m, SWITZERLAND/ RIFFEL LAKE, ZERMATT, VALAIS. Mount Matterhorn, here mirrored in the Riffel Lake at Zermatt, is ”The Iconic Alp” and a true European symbol, one of the World’s most well known mountain silhouettes. It is a mountain of superlatives and among other things, inspired the shape of Toblerone chocolate. In French it is called Mont Cervin and in Italian Monte Cervino. Climate change is enabling lower-altitude species conquer higher and higher ground, out-competing the high altitude species, many of which have their last refuges high up in the mountains of Central and Eastern Europe, Matterhorn, Switzerland
    VPH-2008-09-29-073500-00-Indoor.jpg
  • Mission Matterhorn, View from Riffellake to Matterhorn (left) 4478 m<br />
<br />
Matterhorn 4,478 m, SWITZERLAND/ RIFFEL LAKE, ZERMATT, VALAIS. Mount Matterhorn, here mirrored in the Riffel Lake at Zermatt, is ”The Iconic Alp” and a true European symbol, one of the World’s most well known mountain silhouettes. It is a mountain of superlatives and among other things, inspired the shape of Toblerone chocolate. In French it is called Mont Cervin and in Italian Monte Cervino. Climate change is enabling lower-altitude species conquer higher and higher ground, out-competing the high altitude species, many of which have their last refuges high up in the mountains of Central and Eastern Europe, Matterhorn, Switzerland
    VPH-2008-09-29-073500-00.jpg
  • White-eye bream , Ballerus sapa, or Abramis Sapa in the reeds. Widespread in many large rivers in Europe. Freshwater fish, up to 35 cm long. Swedish: Donaubraxen (Abramis sapa). Danube Delta, Romania
    MLU_20130619_094051_32US.jpg
  • White-eye bream , Ballerus sapa, or Abramis Sapa. Widespread in many large rivers in Europe. Freshwater fish, up to 35 cm long. Swedish: Donaubraxen (Abramis sapa). Danube Delta, Romania
    MLU_20130618_175944_56.jpg
  • White-eye bream (Ballerus sapa or Abramis Sapa), Danube Delta, Romania. Widespread in many large rivers in Europe. Freshwater fish, up to 35 cm long. Swedish: Donaubraxen (Abramis sapa).
    MLU_20130617_101910_94.jpg
  • Notices of people deceased - many more than those of people born...Zabardo, Western Rhodope mountains, Bulgaria
    SWD-2013-05-25-084743.jpg
  • Notices of people deceased - many more than those of people born...Zabardo, Western Rhodope mountains, Bulgaria
    SWD-2013-05-25-085133.jpg
  • The Wild coast SPAIN/ANAGA, TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS The Anaga peninsula is a remote and wild corner of Tenerife, with a brutally rocky coastline and misty laurel forests, accessible only through ancient hiking trails, that have been renovated in recent years. Most of these start or end at the coast. Many species in the Canary Islands, especially among the plants, are so-called endemics – meaning they live only there and nowhere else on Earth. More than 30% of the land area of the Canary Islands are Natura 2000 reserves.
    IRR-2008-12-17-201424-40.jpg
  • Mount Ushba, 4,710 m, GEORGIA/SVANETI, Mount Ushba in Georgia has one of the Caucasus’ most characteristic silhouettes. The impressive Great Caucasus range is by far the wildest mountain chain in Europe and it is one of the world’s 25 Biodiversity hotspots, with as many as 1,600 plant species that exist nowhere else on earth. In 2009, a Russian initiative saw the Caucasus leopard re-introduced to the Russian side of these mountains.
    TSC-2008-06-26-190110.jpg
  • European green lizard, Lacerta viridis, BULGARIA/NIGOPOL, PLEVENA very typical, large green lizard of sunny, old open farmland, vineyards, forest edges and wetland in eastern and south-eastern Europe, still quite common in many places. Both sexes are green in colour, but males, like this one, often have strong blue colour on the throat. It lives mainly on insects, small lizards and worms, but also takes baby mice and bird chicks. The main threat to it is pesticide usage and when old farmland is transformed to intense industry farmland.
    DNI-2008-06-04-175650-1272.jpg
  • European Bee-eater, Merops apiaster, Pusztaszer Landscape Reserve, Hungary 2008<br />
<br />
Bee-eater tossing a bumble bee (Merops apiaster and Bombus sp.), HUNGARY/PUSZTASZER PROTECTED LANDSCAPE, CSONGRÁD. <br />
<br />
The bee-eater is a specialist in bumble bees, wasps, bees and other larger flying insects. One of Europe’s most colourful and exotic-looking birds, the bee-eater lives in colonies in sand banks. That is why this species has benefited from human construction and roadbuilding, where gravel pits and excavation sites provide many more artificial sandbanks than untouched nature. On the other hand, widespread pesticide use in farming reduces the numbers of large insects that the bee-eater needs to survive. The bee-eater is a Mediterranean species of dry and open country, spreading northwards with climate change. Sometimes they are persecuted by bee-keepers, who are not so enthusiastic about their choice of diet.
    MVA-20080510-131842 (kopia).jpg
  • Bee-eater tossing a bumble bee<br />
Merops apiaster and Bombus sp.<br />
HUNGARY/PUSZTASZER PROTECTED LANDSCAPE, CSONGRÁD<br />
<br />
The bee-eater is a specialist in bumble bees, wasps, bees and other larger flying insects. One of Europe’s most colourful and exotic-looking birds, the bee-eater lives in colonies in sand banks. That is why this species has benefited from human construction and roadbuilding, where gravel pits and excavation sites provide many more artificial sandbanks than untouched nature. On the other hand, widespread pesticide use in farming reduces the numbers of large insects that the bee-eater needs to survive. The bee-eater is a Mediterranean species of dry and open country, spreading northwards with climate change. Sometimes they are persecuted by bee-keepers, who are not so enthusiastic about their choice of diet.
    MVA-20080510-131842 Markus Varesvuo.jpg
  • Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Captive..Northern bluefin tuna.Thunnus thynnus.MALTA.Not long ago one of the most common fish in Europe, and the economic backbone of many Mediterranean cultures throughout the ages, the bluefin tuna has been the foundation of one of the world's most lucrative commercial fisheries. After decades of severe industrial overfishing by amongst others an over-sized European fishing fleet, this fantastic resource is now poised on the very brink of extinction. If that fishing isn't banned very soon, the magnificent tuna will be gone forever. The governments of all 27 EU countries in 2010  decided to back the international ban on trade in blufin tuna. Let us hope the world follows suit. Bluefin tuna are very large, long-lived fish that normally gather together in huge schools. They can reach 30 years of age and the heaviest recorded tuna to date weighed 680 kilos. The Atlantic population of bluefin tuna is estimated to have decreased by 97 % since the 1960s. In recent years, the European fishing fleet has still been taking 60,000 tons of tuna annually, in spite of a sustainable harvest being estimated at 7,500 tons. This is a fish that we should all immediately refrain from eating! The senseless overfishing of the tuna is a disaster of historical proportions. That is also why this photo had to be taken in captivity, at a tuna breeding facility. These fish have now all been served as Sushi.
    SZA-2009-05-26-094306-Solvin-Zankl.c...jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-164240.jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-164229.jpg
  • Many beaches along the Lykian Coast in Turkey are used for nesting by the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta). The big tracks left on the beach bear witness to the nocturnal visit of an egg-bearing female.
    SZA-2009-08-04-164128.jpg
  • Atlantic wolffish, Anarhichas lupus.Atlantic marine life, Saltstraumen, Bodö, Norway..Atlantic wolf fish and shrimp (Anarchias lupus and Lebbeus polaris), NORWAY/SALTSTRAUMEN, BODÖ.Many wolf fish accommodate this shrimp species in their lair, eating titbits from the wolf fish's favourite meal - sea urchins.The wrinkled blue-grey wolf fish is a highly-prized delicacy which grows extremely slowly and can live for decades. This makes them very vulnerable for the targeted fishing that is now taking place in the Atlantic. More than 80% of commercial fish stocks in European waters are  thought to be over-fished.One third is at risk of being beyond recovery. We all need to try to be more responsible about eating only fish that is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, MSC. Shouldn't maybe all fish sold in restaurants and shops by law have to be from MSC-certified fisheries?
    MLU_20081007_20373082x.jpg