Now this article caught my attention. It is full of beaver photos without a SINGLE nutria or groundhog, which is rare enough. Plus its title made me really stop and think.
You may have heard that beaver populations were struggling. However, a lot of work has been carried out to restore their habitats and encourage them to return. Click through our slideshow to find out how beaver populations are doing these days.
Okay I don’t believe anyone is worried about the beaver population. I usually hear there are too many, not too few.
One of two living beaver species is the North American beaver (Castor canadensis). It was originally from North America, but it has since spread to Europe and South America. The common name “beaver” is used interchangeably with “mountain beaver” in the United States and Canada, leading to some confusion between the two species. The North American beaver is not only the official state mammal of two states (Oregon and New York) but also one of the official national wildlife symbols of Canada.
The other living species of beaver, Castor fiber, is native to Eurasia but goes by a variety of common names such as the American beaver and the Canadian beaver. When it comes to living rodents, beavers are second only to capybaras in terms of size. In today’s article, we are going to explore the current beaver population, including how many are left in the world.
Okay so far.
The beaver’s contribution to the ecosystem has been overlooked for too long. Because of decades of extermination and trapping for the fur trade, beavers in the United States and Canada nearly became extinct in the late 1800s.
It is estimated that the beaver population in North America is roughly 15 million with another million populating Europe.
Whoa. Now lets just stop and thing.15.o00.000? Lets just say for simplicity’s sake that half of those were in Canada. That leaves us with 750,000 beavers in the US. Divided by 49 states because there are no beavers in Hawaii works out to be around 153.000 beavers per state. Or about 21,000 beaver families per state which sounds a little high even to my ears,
The number of counties per state varies widely from 3 to 254 but that’s roughly 350 beaver families per county. Which I doubt mightily.
I guess we have to wait for the results from the Great Google beaver count.
What Role Do Beavers Play in Maintaining a Healthy Ecosystem?
Beavers can build dams up to half a mile in length, and the ponds they construct help to keep streams and rivers flowing year-round despite fluctuations in snowfall and glacier melt. Numerous bird, insect, amphibian, fish, and mammal species, including the threatened coho and steelhead salmon, rely on beaver ponds for survival. Because of their ability to build, alter, and sustain ecosystems, beavers are often referred to as “ecosystem engineers.” The beaver population is important to the ecosystem.
As a result, beavers significantly affect the local biodiversity through the following mechanisms:
Well you got that right anyway.
