Myocastor coypus
Silhouette: Mattia Menchetti · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The nutria or coypu (Myocastor coypus) is an herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent native to South America. Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, Myocastor has since been included within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats.
The nutria lives in burrows alongside stretches of water and feeds mainly on aquatic and riparian vegetation. In its native range it forms part of South American wetland food webs and can contribute to the dispersal of aquatic plants and spores.
Native to subtropical and temperate South America, it was introduced to North America, Europe and Asia, primarily by fur farmers. Although it is still hunted and trapped for its fur in some regions, introduced populations can damage wetland vegetation and infrastructure through feeding and burrowing, and the species is considered invasive in several countries. Some populations can carry some zoonotic pathogens, including pathogenic Leptospira, although their epidemiological significance is scarce and region-specific.
The genus name Myocastor derives from the two Ancient Greek words μῦς (mûs) 'rat, mouse', and κάστωρ (kástōr) 'beaver'. Therefore, the name Myocastor... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coypu sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 14th 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.
January–February, April, June–July and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Coypu in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, May, August and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Coypu sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Coypu sightings, Wadden Sea National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Camargue (France, about 40%), Fertő-Hanság National Park (Hungary, about 30%) and Cévennes National Park (France, about 20%).
Same order: Rodentia
The closest relatives of the Coypu that you can see in Wadden Sea National Park (order Rodentia, Rodents) are Muskrat (about 10%) and Eurasian Red Squirrel (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Coypu is recorded against all the mammals logged in Wadden Sea National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
