A recent peer-reviewed study published in Nature Sustainability analysed IUCN Red List data for more than 1,600 terrestrial mammal species worldwide and found that species subject to regulated sport hunting are more likely to have stable or increasing populations and less likely to be listed as threatened than species that are not sport hunted.

While the analysis is global, the findings are highly relevant for Europe’s hunting model, which is characterised by strong legal frameworks, science-based quotas, monitoring, and strict enforcement. Across Europe, many hunted mammal species such as roe deer, red deer, wild boar and moose have favourable conservation status, reflecting long-standing management systems that rely on healthy populations and active stewardship.

The authors underline that hunting is not a standalone solution, but that well-regulated, targeted and science-based hunting can form part of sustainable wildlife management, significantly contributing to habitat conservation and broader biodiversity policy. This aligns closely with the European approach under national and European legislation.

These findings complement FACE’s own evidence base. The FACE Biodiversity Manifesto, which demonstrates hunters’ significant contribution to habitat conservation in Europe, and the recent FACE Ungulate Harvest Report 2025, which compiles harvest data from 34 European countries, demonstrate how regulated hunting underpins the sustainable management and recovery of large mammal populations across Europe, based on monitoring, reporting and adaptive management by hunters. Together, this scientific and practical evidence reinforces the role of hunting as a legitimate and effective conservation tool in Europe.

The full study is available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01714-6