Eurasian Beaver
Castor fiber
Overview
The Eurasian beaver has a double coat, meaning its fur has a surface layer of long, coarse hairs and an undercoat of shorter, finer hairs. This coat gives the beaver’s fur a coarse appearance, and may be beige, brown, reddish-brown or black. The beaver has small ears and eyes, a black nose high on the snout and large, pronounced front teeth.
Eurasian beavers have a head-body length of 80cm to 100cm and a tail length of 25cm to 50cm. They weigh between 11kg and 30kg.
- Found in
- Europe, Asia
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Castoridae
- Genus
- Castor
Conservation Status
While considered Least Concern today, the Eurasian beaver was driven to near extinction in the early 20th century due to excessive hunting for fur, meat, and castoreum. Castoreum is an oily secretion used in perfumes and medicine. Deforestation and wetlands drainage for agriculture further reduced the population. Persecution by farmers, who saw beavers as pests due to their dam-building, also contributed to their decline. By the early 1900s, only a few scattered populations of 1,200 individuals remained in remote areas of Russia, France, Norway, and Germany.
The recovery of the Eurasian beaver is one of Europe’s most successful wildlife conservation stories. Conservation efforts like legal protection, habitat restoration and reintroductions led to a remarkable resurgence. Today, the population exceeds one million across their historic range, contributing to ecosystem restoration by improving wetland biodiversity, regulating water flow, and creating habitats for numerous other species. Their successful return highlights the effectiveness of targeted conservation and rewilding strategies.
- Wild Population
- 1,500,000
- Conservation Status
- Least concern
Animal Facts
- The Eurasian beaver slaps its tail on the water to alert its family of danger.
- The Eurasian beaver can hold its breath for 15 minutes while swimming.
- Eurasian beavers have a ‘nictitating membrane’ (a clear eyelid) that allows them to see underwater.
- The Eurasian beaver’s thick, warm waterproof fur keeps it insulated and dry. These fur qualities almost led to its extinction due to overhunting.
- The teeth of the Eurasian beaver never stop growing, and gnawing on wood keeps them filed down. They appear orange due to iron content in their enamel, making them exceptionally sturdy.
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Social & Reproduction
The Eurasian beaver lives in family groups of a mated dominant pair, their young adult offspring and the litter of kits from that year.
Beavers are monogamously pair bonded and mate between December and May, with peaks in January. The pair build a lodge, a mound of wood with inside chambers, located in water. The male will monitor the female’s urine to determine when she is fertile, and mate with her in the water when she is in oestrus.
After a gestation period of about 3 months, the female gives birth to a litter of 2 to 6 kits in the central chamber of the lodge. Kits begin swimming a few days into their lives and start eating solid food by 2 weeks old. Weaning is complete by 3 months old. Kits remain with their parents until 1.5 to 2 years old, although some reports have seen them stay with their family for up to 4 years.
Dispersing young adult beavers move several kilometres away from their parents’ home range and search for another bachelor beaver of the opposite sex. The new pair will establish their own territory and build a lodge to start their own family. Beavers reach sexual maturity as early as 2 years old, though many only successfully reproduce from 3 years on.