Many species of mammal — whose numbers were once dwindling due to hunting, exploitation and habitat loss — have made a comeback in Europe in recent decades. Our World In Data used data from 2022's Wildlife Comeback Report to visualize some of the mammal populations that have increased across the continent from the 1960s onwards.

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As the chart shows, iconic animals like the European bison, Brown bear and elk — which had previously teetered on the brink of extinction — are now thriving once again.

The Eurasian beaver, of which there were just a few thousand in Europe in the first half of the 1900s, has grown to more than 1.2 million.

Other dramatic population increases include the Eurasian badger, whose numbers have grown by 100 percent; the Eurasian otter, which saw its population triple, on average; and the red deer, who achieved an increase of 331 percent.

Via Our World In Data.

[Image credit: Zdeněk Macháček / Unsplash]