19 Facts About Eurasian beaver

Eurasian beaver or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum.

In 2005, analysis of mitochondrial DNA of Eurasian beaver samples showed that only two evolutionarily significant units exist: a western phylogroup in Western and Central Europe, and an eastern phylogroup in the region east of the Oder and Vistula rivers.

Eurasian beaver is one of the largest living rodent species and the largest rodent native to Eurasia.

Eurasian beaver has a larger, less rounded head; a longer, narrower muzzle.

The Eurasian beaver has longer nasal bones, with the widest point being at the end of the snout; in the case of the North American beaver, the widest point is at the middle of the snout.

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The Eurasian beaver has a triangular nasal opening, unlike those of the North American beavers, which are square.

Eurasian beaver has shorter shin bones than the North American species and a narrower, less oval-shaped tail, making it less capable of bipedal locomotion.

Eurasian beaver is a keystone species, as it helps to support the ecosystem which it inhabits.

Unlike most other rodents, Eurasian beaver pairs are monogamous, staying together for multiple breeding seasons.

Eurasian beaver is recovering from near extinction, after depredation by humans for its fur and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties.

In November 2021, a young Eurasian beaver was photographed for the first time outside of the Ebro basin, in the upper Duero in Soria.

In France, the Eurasian beaver was almost extirpated by the late 19th century, with only a small population of about 100 individuals surviving in the lower Rhone valley.

In Switzerland, the Eurasian beaver was extirpated in the early 19th century due to hunting for its fur, meat and castoreum.

In Greece, the Eurasian beaver was present in the Last Glacial Period as remains were found in Epirus.

Eurasian beaver wrote that it is wider than the otter, with strong teeth and that it gets often in the night to the river banks to cut down trees with these teeth.

Indeed, in May 2013, a Belarusian fisherman died after being bitten several times by a Eurasian beaver, severing an artery in his leg and causing him to bleed to death.

Free-living Eurasian beaver populations occur around the River Tay and Knapdale areas in Scotland.

In 2019, a Eurasian beaver pair was reintroduced in East Anglia for the first time.

One Eurasian beaver was trapped by Scottish Natural Heritage on the River Ericht in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, in early December 2010, and was held in captivity in the Edinburgh Zoo.