On a study plot of just over three square kilometers in the Fichtelgebirge, the recorded European adder population fell from 48 animals to just eight within 25 years. That is a drop of about 83 percent. The Bavarian Red List reflects this decline in numbers as well. Why the Adder Is Under Pressure One of…

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is one of the success stories of German bird conservation. After decades of persecution and later pollutants such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) drove the breeding population down to about 70 pairs by the mid-1970s, a long recovery set in.