The LCIE are frequently called upon to produce expert guidances and reviews of certain issues related to large carnivore management. At our spring 2018 meeting in Trento we began a process on several such issues and have now completed three. The first consists of a review of the performance of the brown bear reintroduction project in the Italian Alps. Overall the LCIE feel that this reintroduction has been well managed and represents a great success, although as in any reintroduction project there is still a long way to go and new challenges appear the whole time. The second examines the controversial issue of supplementary feeding of brown bears which is very common throughout southeastern Europe as a tool in population management, as well as in Finland and Estonia as a tourism activity. The guidance acknowledges that feeding may have a role in some situations and that rapid change may not be recommendable, but the document draws attention to the need to very carefully evaluate this activity, and reduce it wherever possible. The third document looks at the value of radio and GPS telemetry as a tool in conservation and research. Attaching such collars to large carnivores has been instrumental in learning about their ecology and is likely to remain an essential tool in the researchers / conservationists toolkit for the forseable future. However, we also draw attention to the need to carefully consider animal welfare and to take into account the 3R's (reduce, replace, refine) when planning such activities.
Other such guidance documents that we have previously produced listed under the "About LCIE - What have we done?" menu - or search under "Publications" with "LCIE" as an author.