but the continent of the future may look rather different. "big parts of Europe will renaturalize." says Reiner Klingholz, head of the Berlin Institute for Population Development. Beras are back in Austria. In Swiss alpine valleys, farms have been receding and forests are growing back in. In parts of France and Germany, wildcats and ospreys have restabilished their range.

"Wolves returning to the heart of Europe? A hundred years ago, a burgeoning, land-hungry population killed off the last of Germany's wolves. Today it's the local humans whose numbers are under threat. Wolf-country villages like Boxberg and Weisswasser are emptying out thanks to the region's ultralow birthrate and continued rural flight. Nearby Hoyerswerda is Germany's fastest shrinking town, losing 25000 of its 70000 residents in the last 15 years. Such numbers are a hardbinger of the future. Home of the 22 of the world's 25 lowest birthrate countries, Europe will lose 41 million people by 2030 even with continued immigration according to the latest U.N. Population Division report"