Featured websites

On a regular basis we will draw attention to a particular website. Websites are chosen because of their quality and / or the timely nature of their content. Suggestions are always welcome.

27:03:11 "Friends of the Earth Czech Republic". This website has both an adult version and a children's version. Unfortunately only available in Czech for the time being, but nice graphics that may inspire?

14:02:11 "Carpathian Brown Bear". This website presents the research and conservation activities of the bear team based in the Polish Institute for Nature Conservation in Krakow.

08:02:11 "MAGUS" or Multilingual Animal Glossary of Unveiled Synonyms. Have you ever wanted to know what lynx, bears, wolves and wolverines are called in over 50 different European languages? Here's your chance! The MAGUS homepage aspires to list the names of European mammals and birds in all extant and extinct European languages. Enjoy!

18:01:11 "The wolf in France". This is the official English language website for wolf management in France run by the French government. Lots of useful information, the current wolf management plan, and links to other material - including a video about Livestock Guarding Dogs in France "Les gardiens de nos troupeaux".

17:01:11 "Scandlynx - the Scandinavian lynx project". This is an umbrella project that coordinates lynx research in Norway and Sweden. The page is in English and Norwegian / Swedish, providing an overview of lynx ecology, a description of the projects' research activities, and access to their publications as pdfs to download.

16:01:11 "Suurpedot - large carnivores in Finland". These pages in English, Swedish and Finnish provide a nice introduction into the status and management of large carnivores in Finland.

15:01:11 "Ticha - the valley of the bear". This is a stunning homepage with some simply beautiful images of bears and their habitat in the Carpathian mountains of Slovakia, a country with crucial large carnivore populations that often falls outside the publics' awareness.

27:10:06 "The Cat Specialist Group" (of the IUCN's Species Survival Commission) homepage contains a weatlth of information on all the world's cat species. Apart from fact sheets and other information about the species the site contains a section where different conservation / research projects are featured each month and access to two constantly updated compendia that focus on the world's most endangered cat species, the Iberian lynx, and the most endangered population of Eurasian lynx that occurs in the southern Balkans.

15:09:06 "The Wolverine Foundation". Wolverines are probably the least known and least studied of the large carnivore species that the LCIE work on, and as such there are few websites dealing with them. The Wolverine Foundation's site provides a great introduction to this species, with sections focusing on ongoing research projects, recent scientific literature, and loads of background information.

10:08:06 "SKANDULV - the Scandinavian wolf project". This project is an international cooperation between Norwegian and Swedish researchers studying the recovering wolf population in south Scandinavia. The website provides the latest wolf news, links to various publications, a gallery of photographs and a much information about the wolf situation in Scandinavia. Most materials are available in English, Swedish and Norwegian.

01:06:06  "El Lince Ibérico" [The Iberian lynx] - a really entertaining and visually dramatic website focusing on the Iberian lynx. Lots of animation and nice graphics, plus a weath of information - but maybe not suitable if being viewed over a slow connection. Only available in Spanish - but this should not stop anybody from enjoying it. Seeing as both the captive breeding program and field based conservation projects seem to be producing positive results it is a good time to focus on this species - the world's most endangered felid.

02:05:06 "The Scandinavian Brown Bear Project" has been conducting research on bears in Sweden and Norway since the mid 1980's. This is probably the large carnivore research project in Europe that has produced the most and best quality science. The products of this research have been integrated into conservation - and today Sweden has one of the largest and bear populations in Europe. The website provides loads of background information on bears in Scandinavia, and downloadable pdfs copies of many of their 270 publications. The site is in both English and Swedish.

05:04:06 "Das Luchsprojekt im Bayerischen Wald" [The Bavarian Forest Lynx Project]. This is a beautifully laid out home page - packed with pictures and information. It covers lynx biology in general as well as the research and monitoring projects that have been ongoing in and around the Bavarian Forest National Park since lynx were reintroduced into the Czech / German border region in the 1970's and 1980's. Unfortunately only in German.

10:03:06 "De fem stora" [The big five]. Even if you don't speak Swedish this site is so full of images that are both beautiful and thought provoking that you can occupy yourself for hours. There are sections on each of the "big five" carnivores found in Sweden (wolves, bears, lynx, wolverines and man) as well as on the conflicts and benefits they bring. The images and text combined present a perfectly balanced reflection on the challenges and opportunities of living together with large carnivores. The home page is a part of the "De fem stora" carnivore information centre located in Järvsö, in north, central Sweden.