page_title: Eurasian beaver
section_title: Behaviour and ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Eurasian beaver / Behaviour and ecology
caption_attribution_description: Eesti: Kopra tegevuse märgid Osmussaarel. English: Signs of Castor fiber activity in Osmussaar, Estonia.
context_page_description: The Eurasian beaver or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survived in eight relict populations in Europe and Asia. It has been reintroduced to much of its former range, and now occurs from Spain, Central Europe, Great Britain and Scandinavia to a few regions in China and Mongolia. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it recovered well in most of Europe. It is extinct in Portugal, Moldova, and Turkey.
context_section_description: The Eurasian beaver is a keystone species, as it helps to support the ecosystem which it inhabits. It creates wetlands, which provide habitat for European water vole, Eurasian otter and Eurasian water shrew. By coppicing waterside trees and shrubs it facilitates their regrow as dense shrubs, thus providing cover for birds and other animals. Beaver dams trap sediment, improve water quality, recharge groundwater tables and increase cover and forage for trout and salmon. Also, abundance and diversity of vespertilionid bats increase, apparently because of gaps created in forests, making it easier for bats to navigate.
caption: Signs of beaver activity
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