Range of the living beavers as of 2016 (including introducedC. canadensis populations in Europe and Patagonia, but missingC. fiber populations in Mongolia and northwestern China, as well as reintroduced populations in the United Kingdom)
Abeaver is a largerodent. It issemi-aquatic: some of the time it lives inwater, some of the time it lives on land. Beavers are only found inNorth America andEurope. InGreat Britain, for example, they have been deliberately re-introduced. In Europe, they almost died off, but they are returning. There are beavers living in theElbe andRhonerivers, as well as inBavaria,Poland andScandinavia. Beavers are known for building and keepingdams inrivers.
Their dams slow down rivers and reduce erosion. Thewetlands they create benefit many other species. Special arrangements are needed to letsalmon and othermigratory fish pass the dams to spawn.
The European beaver is currently anendangered species. It was almost hunted to extinction. It was hunted for itsfur, and forcastoreum. Castoreum is made by agland, which is also responsible for the smell of the animal.[1] It is used as atincture in someperfumes[2]
People are currently (2007) reintroducing the beaver, because the important role of the beaver for the ecology of rivers was discovered.[3] Beaver dams (or the small lakes that form) provide a habitat for many species.
Early visitors that met Native Americans saw them wearing animal skin blankets. The fur on these blankets were good forfelting. The Europeans wanted felthats, and the Native Americans wanted metal: so, fur trading began.
Beaver was the most popular fur for hats. At that time in North America, there were about sixty million beavers. Only the soft inside fur was used forfelting. The best time for collecting the beaver's fur was winter, when the fur was thickest. It was also a good time to hunt, since the beaver stayed close to its home in the winter and was easy to catch. Thefur trade gave money to the European traders. The Native Americans who caught the beavers got the metal tools and other high technology items they wanted, until the beavers were mostly gone.
The romance of the beaver; being the history of the beaver in the western hemisphere, by A. Radclyffe Dugmore. Illustrated with photographs from life and drawings by the author. Publisher: Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott company; London, W. Heinemann 1914(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries)
