Castor fiber
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) or European beaver is a species of beaver widespread across Eurasia, with a rapidly increasing population of 1.5 million in 2020. The Eurasian beaver was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum, with only about 1,200 beavers in eight relict populations from France to Mongolia in the early 20th century. It has since been reintroduced into much of its former range and now lives from Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia through China and Mongolia, with about half the population in Russia. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Castor fiber was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, who described the beaver in his work Systema Naturae. Between 1792 and 1997, several Eurasian beaver zoological specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, including: Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Plitvice Lakes National Park | 🇭🇷 Croatia | |
| 3 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 4 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 7 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 8 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Brno Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Lusen National Park Centre | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Wildlands | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 5 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Oasi Naturalistica di Sant'Alessio | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 7 | AQUA Akvarium & Dyrepark | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 8 | Alpenzoo Innsbruck | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 9 | Zoo La Garenne | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 10 | Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach | 🇵🇱 Poland |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Beaver sighting in London on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 20 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and June–August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Beaver in London on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and September–February, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eurasian Beaver sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
16th of 18
Of the 18 cities where we can rate Eurasian Beaver sightings, London ranks 16th at under 5%. The best odds are in Vienna (Austria, about 30%), Warsaw (Poland, about 20%) and Berlin (Germany, about 20%).
Same order: Rodentia
The closest relatives of the Eurasian Beaver that you can see in London (order Rodentia, Rodents) are Eastern Gray Squirrel (about 80%), Brown Rat (about 30%) and European Wood Mouse (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eurasian Beaver is recorded against all the mammals logged in London (24 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
