American beaver no longer welcome in Europe

The American beaver, once a valued species, is now unwelcome in Europe. The European Union declared the American beaver a harmful alien species last summer, posing a threat to its native European counterpart. While the American beaver is not inherently harmful to nature and even benefits ecosystems by creating diverse habitats, its aggressive nature threatens to displace the European beaver.

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The problem is that the American beaver threatens to displace the native European beaver, being a more vigorous animal.

Historically, the two species were thought to be the same, leading to the introduction of American beavers to Europe to repopulate areas where the European beaver had been hunted to near extinction. However, they cannot interbreed, possessing different chromosome counts (40 for American, 48 for European).

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But they cannot even reproduce with each other. The American beaver has 40 chromosomes, the European beaver has 48.

In a remarkable display of natural engineering, a beaver family in the Czech Republic's Brdy nature reserve built a dam in just two nights. This spontaneous construction solved a long-standing problem for authorities who had been struggling with the bureaucracy and logistics of building a dam to restore a previously drained area. The beavers' dam not only functioned perfectly but also saved the state an estimated 1.2 million euros, the amount budgeted for the construction project.

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One morning, there was a dam. The beavers had built it in two nights.