European Beaver

iEuropean Beaver

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Scientific classification

Castor fiber
Linnaeus, 1758

The European Beaver (Castor fiber) is an endangered aquatic mammal <ref>Gippoliti (2002). Castor fiber. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is near threatened</ref> which was hunted almost to extinction in Europe, both for fur and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties. However, this beaver is now being re-introduced throughout Europe. Several thousand live on the Elbe, the Rhone, the Danube <ref>Europäischer Biber. WWF Österreich. Retrieved on August 24, 2006.</ref> and in parts of Scandinavia. They have been reintroduced in Bavaria and The Netherlands and are tending to spread to new locations. The beaver became extinct in Britain in the sixteenth century, but there is now a project which is reintroducing the species to the country. Six European Beavers will be released into a lakeside area in Gloucestershire and allowed to roam wild <ref>"Beavers in 'wild' after centuries", BBC News, 2005-10-28.</ref>. There are also plans to bring the beaver to Scotland <ref>The Scottish Beavers Network</ref>.