130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Scale Status Population trend Justification Threats
Global
[10]
Least Concern Increasing Good recovery as a result of
conservation programmes
Ongoing conservation measures
No major threats. Possible threats at local level:
1. Competition with Castor canadensis (Finland, northwest
Russia)
2. Road mortality
3. Conflict with humans through crop and forestry
damage
4. Illegal killing (Mongolia)
5. Habitat loss (Bulgan River, China)
6. Pollution (Bulgan River)
7. Dams (Bulgan River)
Europe
[4]
Least Concern Increasing Good recovery as a result of
conservation programmes
Ongoing conservation measures
No major threats. Possible threats at local level:
1. Competition with Castor canadensis (Finland, northwest
Russia)
2. Road mortality
3. Conflict with humans through crop and forestry
damage
perfume base) coupled with habitat loss [4] . Around
1,200 individuals [5] remained in five isolated
European sites – Rhône (France), Elbe (Germany),
Telemark (Norway), Pripet (Belarus, Ukraine,
Russia) and Voronezh (Russia) [6] – but the species
eventually recovered as a result of legal protection
and targeted conservation measures (including
reintroductions and translocations) [5] . Populations
are now established in all countries within the
beaver’s former natural range in Europe except for
Portugal, Italy, and the southern Balkans [5] .
Habitat preferences and general densities
The beaver is a semi-aquatic species, which uses a
variety of freshwater systems, although it shows
a preference for those surrounded by woodland [5] .
It may also occur in agricultural land and urban
areas [5] . Home range size varies with food availability,
watershed size, colony size, and season [3] .
Each family group numbers between two and eight
animals, with an average of 3.2 individuals [7] . The
density of these groups in the landscape depends
on the quality of the habitat: less suitable sites
support around one family group per 6.6 km of
river [7] , while in Lithuania, an average density of
eight sites per ten km of river bed, i.e. one family
per five km 2 has been recorded [5] .
Legal protection and conservation status
The Eurasian beaver is protected under the Bern
Convention (Appendix III) [8] and the Habitats
Directive (Sweden, Finland, Baltic states: Annex V;
all others: Annexes II and IV) [9] . Remnant populations
have been legally protected since the late 19 th
century, e.g. in Norway since 1845, France since
1909, Germany since 1910, and Russia and Ukraine
since 1922 [6] , as have extinct populations in Finland,
Sweden, Poland and Spain [6] . Reintroductions have
taken place from 1922, when beavers were translocated
to Sweden from Norway [5] . Initially, the focus
of the efforts was fur-harvesting, only later did
conservation and ecosystem management become
more prominent [6] . The species is often completely
protected but also exploited in some countries,
e.g. Sweden and Norway [5] . Many also generate
additional income through beaver-related
tourism [5] . The beaver is listed as Least Concern
with an increasing trend globally and in Europe
because of the recovery the species has shown in
response to conservation programmes, as well as
the wealth of on-going conservation measures
taken (Table 1). While no major threats are known
to affect the beaver at a global or regional level,
some pressures may exist locally, such as competition
with other species, road mortality, conflict
with humans, illegal killing and habitat degradation,
change and loss (Table 1).
Abundance and distribution:
current status
The IUCN estimates an increasing global
population of over a million individuals, with the
European population accounting for a minimum
of around 337,500, or 33%, of these. It should be
noted, however, that these Figures are likely to be
underestimations. The largest European populations
occur in Latvia and Sweden (23% each),
Norway (16%) and Lithuania (12%), accounting for
almost three-quarters of the European population.
In Latvia, the Eurasian beaver went extinct in
the 1830s, with the first reintroductions occurring
in 1927 and 1935 using individuals from Swedish
stock [5] . Following the introduction of Russian
beavers in 1952, the country was recolonised
naturally from Belarus [5] . Exhibiting the characteristic
pattern of slow increase followed by rapid
growth, the species now numbers over 100,000
individuals and is growing further. As a result it
Table 1.
Summary of Global
and European Red
List assessments and
threats listed for the
Eurasian beaver.
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