Reintroduction of Beaver in Serbia – Zasavica 2004

– Place of introduction of the family

– Place of introduction of a specimen

Besides Zasavica beavers were also introduced in Obedska swamp at the beginning of December 2004.

Archive data – Beaver in Serbia and Mačva

During the first half of the 19th century beaver was relatively widely spread along the river beds and swamp areas, although the number was not great. According to the notes made by travelers and zoologist it was reconstructed that the beaver was present along our big rivers (the Danube, Sava, Morava ).

The data made by famous naturalist A. Brehm who quoted Taub, a traveler from 1777: “Their “hut” with a family of 8 beavers was found on the Turkish bank, a mile downstream from Mitrovica”, shows that beaver lived in Posavina two centuries ago.

About the Project

The project has been realized in association with Biology Faculty in Belgrade , the Association from Bavaria and SNR Zasavica.

31 specimens, i.e., 4 families and singles were introduced.

A microchip had been implanted into each specimen before releasing them due to easier tracking.

Activities of Beaver

Beaver dam 30m long, 1,8m tall (0,8 m out of water) is on the mouth of the side river Batar into the Zasavica, on the farmland Crkvine – Bakreni Batar, in KO Radenković.

Imperilment

The reasons for almost complete extinction of European beaver in the whole area and in Serbia as well, are identical.

The first reason of extinction is over-hunting. There are several reasons for exposing of this species to constant hunting pressure:

• Belief in healing abilities of the certain parts of the body (first of all costreum gland)
• Using of the products of this gland in cosmetic purposes
• The quality of fur
• Beaver meat which was allowed by the church during the lent

Over-hunting was followed by destroying habitats. It led to narrowing of territory and reducing the number of population. It has been registered that flooded and swampy areas have been reduced 10 times compared with the period when beaver was present in considerable number (the beginning of the 19th century).

International Status and Beaver Protection

Despite the effort done on revitalization and protection of beaver in Europe , it is still, more or less, endangered species. Because of that all international conventions included beaver into one of the endangered categories. The most significant laws which classify beaver as endangered species are:

• Berne Convention, Appendix III
• EU Habitat and Species Directive, Annex II and IV
• IUCN Red List, Lower Risk

According to all Conventions and considering the degree of endangering, there is an obligation of faking some measures for protecting and restoring the population of European beaver as well as the habitats they live in. That tells us that besides measures for protecting of species are equally important for survival and growth increase of beaver as species.

State of Population

In Europe there are only 6 autochthonous isolated families left with small number of species:

1. Rhône river – France
2. Elba river – Germany
3. South Norway
4. Nyemen river – Belarus
5. Pripyat swamp- Belarus
6. Vorornez river – Russia

– previous reintroduction

– planned reintroduction

– other autochthonous population

At the beginning of the 20th century the last specimen was shot which made this species extinct on the territory of Serbia . The same happened in the whole area.

In Asia there are only 3 populations left (two in Serbia and one on the China – Mongolia border) also with a small number of specimens.

Systematisation of Species

Taxonomy:
(† extinct genus and species)

• genus : † paleodabar – Paleocastor
• genus : † trogonteri – Trogontherium
• genus : † trogonteri kuviera – Trogontherium cuvieri
• genus : † dipoid – Dipoides
• genus : † steneofibero – Steneofiber
• genus : BEAVER – Castor
• species : † Beaver isiodora – Castor issiodorensis
• species: European beaver – Castor fiber L.
• (subspecies: European Scandinavian Beaver – Castor fiber fiber)
• (subspecies: European Elba Beaver – Castor fiber albicus)
• (subspecies: European French Beaver – Castor fiber galliae)
• (subspecies: European Vistula Beaver – Castor fiber vistulanus)
• (subspecies: European Ural Beaver – Castor fiber pohlei)
• (subspecies: European Mongolian Beaver – Castor fiber birulai)
• species: Canadian Beaver – Castor canadensis (24 subspecies)

Biology and Ecology of Species

European beaver (Castor fiber L.) is a semiaquatic animal and is the biggest rodent of the northern hemisphere. Grown-up males are between 75-95cm long, 30cm of which is the tail. They can weigh up to 20-30kg. Its thick set dark brown body makes it an excellent swimmer and diver. It is active during the night. The back is bent, the neck is short and thick, the head wide, narrowing towards the snout, the forehead is flat with a short snout. The legs are short, firm, the rear ones are slightly longer than the front ones with 5 toes each. It has got webbed rear feet. The tail is clearly parted from the body, circular in the root, straight in the middle and flat towards the top where it is about 20 cm wide. The ears are long, small and usually hidden in the fur. The eyes are small with mobile eyelids. Beaver fur consists of thick silky hairs about 5cm long. Fur is oily and thick so that it can prevent water from touching the skin and keeps body temperature stabile. The colour of fur is dark brown with gray shades on the back and the belly is brighter. Beaver can be recognized by its very big, strong, flat, smooth front teeth and looking from aside they look like a chisel sticking out from the jaw. Both sexes have mating glands on the lower part of the belly near the anus (“castoreum”) which have strong smell and bitter taste. Secretion of these glands was often used as balsam for alleviating pain caused by convulsions. This monogamous herbivore eats barks and leaves of various trees, but mostly willows. Its special treat is soft upper part of branches and shoots, while from older trees it is bark it eats. Sometimes it eats grass near the river banks. It is sexually mature at the age of 2-3 years. Mating period is from February to March and a female carries its young for 107 days and brings forth 1-5 young which can see 8-10 days after the birth when their mother takes them into the water with her. Life expectancy is up to 20 years. Its hiding place is in the water under the hummock of branches. If the level of water is low beaver will make a dam to maintain the necessary level of water. With beaver as with most other animals, it is female that builds a hiding place while male is only an obedient worker. Both male and female work during the year and in the summer and at the beginning of autumn they play more than they build. It is interesting what Fizinger noticed about beaver’s behaviour before the storm. A few hours before the storm it starts checking the building (the hummock or dam), fixing it and, if necessary, bringing more branches and leaves in front of the entrance. Beaver’s hummock has one or several entrance halls 2-6m long which can be entered bellow the water surface. The hummock itself has one big room, whose floor is covered with splinters, and a few storerooms. Each hummock has its emergency exit in the hidden parts of the woods connected with underground holes.

Background

There is a lot of information about the presence of European beaver (Castor fiber L. 1758) in Serbia and in wider area. The data from paleontologist and archeological excavations show the continual presence of beaver from Pleistocene through prehistory to its complete extinction from this area at the beginning of the 20th century.

In most profiles of middle Pleistocene the most common fossil remains were the bones from: Bison, Capra, Megaceros, Equus, Hyaena, Ursus, Rupicarpa, Leopardus, Capreolus, Mammutheus, Dicerorhinus, Hystris, Canis, etc.

The remains of bones in Macedonia (near the village of Manastir), Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia dated back to the middle Pleistocene ( mindel-riss ) from 300.000-200.000 BC contained following fauna: Hyaena cf. perrieri , Dicerorhinus etruscus , D. hemitoechus , Equus mosbache mosbachensis , Dama cf. nestii , Leptobos cf. etrusceus , Hystrix cf. refossa where we can especially emphasise the presence of today`s beaver relative Trogontherium cuvieri. All named species belong to so called warm-blooded fauna which indicates the existence of warm steppes with smaller forests. This middle Pleistocene fauna was found in cave sediments where fossil man used to bring it.

The fauna remains from the late Pleistocene have been most completely researched because they were the ones to enable the existence of the Neanderthals as representatives of middle Paleolithic cultures and to sapient hominids during the early Paleolithic. Late Pleistocene includes the period from the Interglacial riss/wurm (120.000-80.000 BC) to the late Glacial. There were some significant climate changes in this period which influenced change of plants and animals so there was a successive exchange of cold and warm-blooded animal species. The Interglacial riss/wurm period was characterized by warm-blooded fauna while in the mid-periods the priority was given to the species adjusted to the mild climate.

The warm-blooded species are known from numerous layers of the interglacial riss/wurm all over Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. The most important representatives of this warm-blooded fauna are: hedgehood ( Erinaceus ereropaeus ), mole ( Tapla europaea ), bats ( Rhinolophus ferrumrquinum, Myotis myotis, Plecotus aurinus ), Crocuta spelaea, cave lion ( Panthereae spelaea ), leopard ( Leopardus pardus ), marten ( Martes foina ), badger ( Meles meles ), otter ( Lutra lutra ), fox ( Vulpes vulpes ), cave bear ( Ursus spelaeus ), Plalaeoxodon antiquus , hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus antiques ), deer ( Cervus Elaphus ), giant deer ( Dama dama ), roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ), wild cow ( Bosprimigenius ), dormouse ( Glis glis ), hare ( Lepis europaeus ), beaver ( Castor fiber ) etc. Paleolithic material culture was connected with this Interglacial fauna. It can be statistically calculated according to the skeleton remains of certain animals some of which were most hunted. For example in Krapina half-cave in the sediments of the Interglacial riss/wurm the remains of rhinoceros, beaver, fallow deer and wild cow are dominant.

In the late Glacial or Postglacial there were some significant changes in fauna. The climate was changing influenced by gradual warming. The glaciers were getting smaller and moving to the North and there was transgression in the Adriatic Sea. The sea level was increasing and reaching the North Adriatic bay, the islands were parting from the mainland and relief similar to today’s one was formed. The climate change together with some other elements caused the extinction of some species such as wollen rhinoceros, mammoth etc. Other species were going to the North such as polar fox, glutton bear, reindeer, lemming etc. and some stayed and became gradually adjusted to new living conditions (North-European elk, wild cow, beaver etc.).

Beavers and hamsters became present on this area at the end of the late Glacial, when the climate became more suitable for life.

The Holocene as the latest part of the quarter includes the last 10.000 years, the period from the climate phase of the Boreal to the Subrecent. At the beginning of the Holocene, the Mesolithic material culture was the most spread with its typical fauna consisted of deer, roe deer, wild pig, wild cow, dark bear, wild cat, wolf, hare and beaver. The domestication of some animals began during the Mesolithic, so some of the first animals having been domesticated were dog, then goat, sheep, cow, pig etc. In the early Holocene there were herds of North-European elk, giant deer and European bison on the pastures in our area and in the rivers there were numerous colonies of beaver. The “man-hunter” of that age completely changed his nomadic way of life for permanent settlements and started adjusting the nature to his demands which led to permanent disturbance of relationships in nature.