Eurasian Beaver

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

The beaver is a semi-aquatic species. It is the second-largest rodent worldwide. It is a compact animal with a massive head, small eyes, small valvular ears and valvular nostrils. The legs are short, hands and feet have five digits, those of the feet being webbed.

The head-body length ranges from 60-80 cm, the flat and hairless, padlde-like tail is up to 45 cm long 13 cm wide. The body-weight range is about 12-25 kg, but heavier animals, up to 40 kg, have been reported. Females are slightly larger than males.

The beaver's fur is unusually dense, consisting of fine underfur overlaid with coarse guard hairs The colour is uniformly glossy or yellowish on the upper side, and brown to tawny on the underparts. Legs and tail are blackish.

Did you know?
... that beavers are second only to humans in their capacity to manipulate the environment? By building and maintaining dams, busy beavers can completely change the vegetation, animal life, and other components of the watersheds in which they live. The ponds created by the dams are the beaver's first defense against predators like the lynx and wolf.

Factsheet
Class	MAMMALIA
Order	RODENTIA
Suborder	SCIUROMORPHA
Family	CASTORIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Castor fiber
Name (English)	Eurasian Beaver
Name (French)	Castor d'Eurasie
Name (German)	Europäischer Biber
Name (Spanish)	Castor europeo
Local names	Czech: Bobr evropský Danish: Bæver Dutch, Norwegian: Bever Estonian: Euroopa kobras Finnish: Majava Hungarian: Közönséges hód Italian: Castoro europeo Latvian, Lettonian: Bebrs Lithuanian: Upinis bebras Polish: Bóbr europejski Portuguese: Castor Romanian: Castorul Romansh: Castur Serbo-Croatian: Europski dabar Slovak: Bobo vodny Swedish: Bäver
CITES Status	Not listed
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Per Harald Olson

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Eurasia
Habitat	Freshwater lakes and rivers, usually near woodlands
Wild population	Approx. 639.000 (2006) (Red List IUCN 2011)
Zoo population	17 reported to ISIS

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 80 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
M. Croucho

Why do zoos keep this animal

Due to overhunting and loss of habitat the beaver had disappeared from the major part of its European range. In the mid 20th Century efforts were undertaken in several countries to reintroduce beavers, and zoos were instrumental in some of these programmes, e.g. in Switzerland. As wild beaver populations are recovering, releases become less necessary, and conservation efforts focus on the restoration of water courses and other habitat improvements. Zoos now keep beavers primarily for educational reasons because of their unique way of life and because they are the largest European rodents, and as ambassadors for healthy freshwater ecosystems.

How this animal should be kept

Beavers should be kept as pairs or family groups of compatible animals. The outdoor enclosure should consist of a land part and a pool preferably of not less than 50 m² surface each. The pool should be up to 1 m deep.

Beavers are kept outdoors all year round, but sleeping dens of 1m² should be provided. Access to the sleeping dens should be through the pool, i.e. under water.

The diet of beavers consists of branches, preferably in leaf, fruit, vegetables and cereals.