Introduction to this volume

In November 2004, a seminal meeting was held in Erice (Sicily) where representatives from a wide range of European countries were asked to come and offer presentations on ungulate populations and their management in their respective countries. The overall idea was to learn from each others' experiences (and each others' mistakes), in the hopes of developing improved management strategies for the future. Speakers were asked to review the status of populations of wild ungulates in their countries, describe current legislation and management philosophy, and review problems and actual practice with day-to-day management.

The meeting was an enormous success – and very revealing in highlighting the diversity of attitudes and approaches to management of wild ungulates in general, as well as the very different issues faced by wildlife managers in different countries. After the meeting was over the organisers decided to prepare a book to ‘encapsulate’ the material to make it more widely available – to academic researchers, wildlife managers and policy makers alike. At the meeting in Erice, however, presentations covered only some 12 countries from within Europe; and it was determined that the book should be extended in order to include contributions from as many European countries as possible.