European beavers

26-07-2008

Haven't most Uk breedings of captive beavers in zoos been of the American/Canadian ones? So this 'first breeding' claim could still be true.

Dam building by Beavers slows the water current of rivers and streams naturally create a system of ponds and marshland(called Muskeg in Canada) which benefits the landscape rather than harming it. However I'm not sure if European Beaver build dams- they don't where they exist on big rivers like the Rhone.

26-07-2008

Wish I had some on my doorstep..

I've seen a number of photos of the Forest of Dean boar-despite having been at large a number of years they still seem to be tame and at least partially diurnal in habit. Most information says when released into the wild they 'quickly revert to nocturnal behaviour, particularly if persecuted' so shooting them doesn't seem to be the case in this instance?

What is the current official policy with the Forest of Dean population. Are they being encouraged, controlled or what?

27-07-2008

ahhh... well I've seen the signs of them, just not in person. Unfortunately. So not necessarily that tame. Rumour has it that the Dean boars aren't very pure and what you see are really feral pigs maybe boar crosses. Difficult to tell, and I have worked with the real thing.

The current policy is 'not really sure'. Some quarters would like a cull to control, others to completely remove. Most residents actually quite like the idea of wild boar in the forest because it doesn't affect them. Defra is yet to make up its mind.

27-07-2008

Not at all. Most of the beavers in the country, certainly those in private hands in semi-wild conditions, are Europeans (previously yes there were more Canadians). I am not sure how many have bred, but they have been going for a number of years, so I'm sure they have bred.

Beavers don't tend to dam up very large rivers, prefering smaller upshoot streams. It probably has alot to do with winter flooding. Europeans also seem to spend more time burrowing into banks then Canadians... not sure why. However they will mound up logs and vegetation into a dam too.

27-07-2008

Yes, I have read that too. Maybe its a behavioural difference or maybe its jusyt on larger rivers and in quieter flowing streams in remoter areas they maybe do as much 'damming' as much as North American beaver?

27-07-2008

I think the four or five main colonies all came from Boar farms and in each case the degree of their purity is therefore a matter for conjecture. The ones in Kent/Sussex do 'look' pure though interestingly a proportion of the piglets they produce are a 'silvery' colourphase. I'm sure how pure they are also determines how quickly(or not) they revert to being feral/nocturnal.

Defra seems to be taking a long time to get off the fence over the GB Boar issue. I hope they are allowed to stay- certainly in areas where they aren't causing a real nuisance which of course is always magnified by press etc.

29-07-2008

Certainly some of the boar populations are definitely escapees/deliberate (de-liberated??). I believe that the Kent population (another group I am familiar with) were the result of animals taken from the farm to the slaughterhouse and kept in 'normal' pig housing, which of course they escaped from. They all tend to look quite boar-like to me, but I suppose some expert can tell the difference (as long as they have long bristles, long snouts and upright ears). The ferals living in northern Australia look pretty similar too, so I imagine it doesn't take many generations. Ever notice that feral dogs don't look like wolves though...

Defra are taking a long time to make a decision. They would probably like the problem to go away. The boar safari/sight-seeing tours in Kent don't guarantee getting close to them let alone seeing them - quite skittish. Start shooting them and they will all back off and be impossible to remove! It is probably in the too-hard basket currently.

Another issue that Defra has to deal with is the EU directive towards re-establishing native species. Even this is fraught with problems: White-tailed eagles into Skye is fine; into Norfolk broads might kill off all the bitterns. Beavers might kill or the fish and flood everybody (summer 2007, all over again...). Great bustards might... I dunno, take out passenger jets??? Last thing they want to deal with is dog-bullying, car-smashing, garden-ripping (and very tasty) pigs that they may even have to protect.

Wolves? Bears? Hah! That will be the day.

29-07-2008

That's a pretty good appraisal of the current situation/stand-off. I like the idea of planes falling out of the sky caused by 'nuisance' Great Bustards too.

30-07-2008

I'm sort of waiting for some really good evidence to come out of large cats in our countryside, I think when someone gets lucky enough to take some good footage it will render the whole predator introduction debate slightly irrelevant.

30-07-2008

Maybe more of the larger collections in the UK should bring in European beavers along with the HWP, wildwood and Slimbridge showing them as a link to native species conservation.

30-07-2008

Has anyone ever seen any of these beavers? You can include the Martinmere pair and any others that are around. Speaking entirely personally, while I am in favour of keeping and reintroducing European beavers, I think they make the worst zoo exhibits ever, they just never appear. The only time I have ever seen European beavers was at Zurich Zoo in 1973.

Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

30-07-2008

the only time I think I've seen Beavers in a zoo is on a postcard...

I've seen North american ones quite easily in the wild.

30-07-2008

North American beavers aren't much different. If you can see a beaver easily in captivity, it probably isn't very happy....Chessingtons old beaver pond or Beaver Water World in Kent springs to mind....if they have a decent enclosure they'll be out and about late and early and holed up during the main part of the day (Eg. Drusillas park). I think some zoos on the continent (I forget which) have created stunning beaver exhibits by allowing the public to see into the lodge using mirrors.

01-08-2008

Completely agree, and I've worked with them too! I did come up with an idea to create a nocturnal display within a fake lodge, complete with underwater tunnels, in order to see them. However I ended up leaving before my plans came close to fruition. Any exhibit which gives beavers access to natural substrates will have problems - they will burrow into banks, disrupt water supply/flow/filtration, reduce water visibility, obviously denude any living vegetation, and in general are shy retiring critters. I think they only work well if the animals have been hand-reared or live in a traditional concrete pit (obviously I don't advocate either). They look lovely when you one, though.

01-08-2008

I think it is possible to create a good exhibit, you just need to use mirrors to allow public a view into the lodge. I don't get why more zoos don't do this. The drusillas exhibit remained stunning because the entire enclosure, which is comparatively large, has wire laid underneath the soil and plants. Only a couple of years back when it changed hands the new owners added a pair of capybara into the mix.....obviously trying to give people something to look at when the beavers were out of sight, now the exhibit looks a little worn, and pretty strange....