Large carnivores have a strong socio-cultural status in all societies, not least in Europe. In Europe there are five species of large carnivore, the Wolf (Canis lupus), Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) Wolverine (Gulo gulo), Lynx (Lynx lynx) and Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus). All these species share common features in their requirements for large ranges, a broad mosaic of natural habitats and prey, all of which brings them into conflict with human interests. This conflict has, historically, in some areas resulted in the localised extinction of large carnivores at various periods through history.

More recently however, the status of large carnivores in Europe has undergone a significant change. Much of this has been a result of the expansion of the European Union which has brought into the EU large wilderness areas and significant populations of certain large carnivores. There has at the same time been an increase public interest in large carnivores. Whilst traditions and attitudes towards large carnivores vary from country to country and region to region, it is reasonable to point towards an element of polarisation between urban society who are able to maintain a romanticised view of large carnivores and rural society who have to manage conflicts with large carnivores.
In recent years concurrent with the rising public interest in large carnivores and the inclusion of bigger populations in the EU through political expansion has resulted in a need for the management of these populations. As a result there has been the Large Carnivore Initiative was established and the EU is steadily making progress towards a management plan for large carnivores. For any management plan to be successful there should be meaningful involvement of key stakeholders, which in the case of large carnivores includes hunters.

Hunters are on one hand affected by large carnivores (e.g. depredation of game species and dogs) but on the other hand offer a potential resource to help resolve conflict. To this end, FACE have established a Technical Group to deal specifically with the conservation of large carnivores and to create a platform for hunters to be actively involved in the conservation of large carnivores.