But what about the seventh continent? The one that wildlife lovers often think of as "the tame one" or "the boring one"? What about Europe? Who's ever heard of going on safari in Ukraine... let alone France or Spain?
It turns out that Europe, one of the smallest and most population-dense capitals, is moving in the opposite direction. Whereas Africa, Asia, and South America are seeing their wildernesses shrinking rapidly, to the point where some species are becoming more common in zoos than in the their natural state, Europe is getting wilder.
For centuries, Europe's forests and fields and mountains were being increasingly tamed by its people until it seemed that there was no room left for wildlife, except maybe in the furthest reaches of its eastern frontiers. In recent years, however, a host of native species have been on the rebound. Some have opportunistically been reintroducing themselves, taking advantage of a more tolerant atmosphere of humanity to expand back into their former range. Others have been the beneficiaries of managed breeding and reintroduction programs.
Depending on where you go in Europe these days, you can find brown bears and grey wolves, river otters and wild cats, or one of the two species of lynx that roam the continent. The forests house wild boars and an array of deer, from the diminutive roe deer to the towering moose (called "elk" in Europe, but not to be confused with North American elk), and even the reintroduced wisent, or European bison. In the mountains there are several sheep-and-goat-like hooved mammals - ibex, chamois, mouflon. Big birds are also making their comeback in the form of imperial eagles, bearded vultures, common cranes, and white storks.
So much of our cultural history of wildlife originated in Europe. Storks bringing babies? Those were based on the European white storks, now returning to Great Britain. Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs didn't meet the Big Bad Wolf outside of Yellowstone, but in Europe. The mythological association of salamanders with fire comes from the brilliantly marked fire salamanders, found in the leaf liter of European forests. The bears who found their home rudely invaded and porridge devoured by a selfish brat named Goldilocks weren't grizzlies - they were European brown bears.
Some species will not be returning to Europe any time soon. Lions once roamed the continent (featuring prominently in Greek myth), but I don't expect to hear about them prowling the streets of Athens any time soon. Similarly, the islands of the Mediterranean once sheltered dwarf species of elephant and hippo, now long gone. The aurochs and tarpan, wild ancestors of the domestic cow and horse, respectively, have been extinct for centuries, despite some... creative breeding efforts during the last century. At the same time, it really is inspiring to continue to read the good news out of Europe, to hear about wolves in France and bears in Germany and wild asses running the steppes of Ukraine.
It's a reminder that, if wildlife can survive there, maybe there's hope for it anywhere.
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