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Capobianco G, Viviano A, Mazza G, Cimorelli G, Casciano A, Lagrotteria A, Fusillo R, Marcelli M, Mori E. "Oops…a Beaver Again!" Eurasian Beaver Castor fiber Recorded by Citizen-Science in New Areas of Central and Southern Italy. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13101699. [PMID: 37238128 DOI: 10.3390/ani13101699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The Eurasian beaver Castor fiber was once present in the Palearctic, ranging from the western Iberian Peninsula to northwestern China. In the Middle Ages, this rodent underwent a severe decline in population due to habitat loss, hunting for fur and meat, and the demand for castoreum. At the beginning of 1900, the range of the Eurasian beaver was limited to scattered refugia in Eurasia. Since 1920, legal protection, reintroduction events, and natural spread triggered the recovery of the species in most of its original range. In March 2021, the presence of the Eurasian beaver in Central Italy (Tuscany and Umbria regions) was confirmed through camera trapping after the detection of unequivocal signs of presence (i.e., gnawed trunks). Recordings are located about 550 km south of the known range of this species, thus suggesting that the presence of beavers in Tuscany and Umbria might be due to a local unauthorised reintroduction. In this work, we also reported the presence of beavers in the Abruzzi region and in Southern Italy (Molise-Campania regions), over 380 km in a straight line south to the southernmost record of beaver presence in Central Italy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Capobianco
- Associazione per la Ricerca, la Divulgazione e l'Educazione Ambientale (ARDEA), Via Ventilabro 6, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Andrea Viviano
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Florence, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Mazza
- CREA Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification (CREA-DC), Cascine del Riccio, Via Lanciola 12/a, 50125 Florence, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center, 90133 Palermo, Italy
| | - Gianmarco Cimorelli
- Associazione Amici del Volturno e dei suoi Affluenti, Via Giuseppe Laurelli 12, 86170 Isernia, Italy
| | | | - Alessandro Lagrotteria
- Department of Biological Sciences, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via G. Ferraris 107, 13100 Vercelli, Italy
| | - Romina Fusillo
- Lutria sas Wildlife Research and Consulting, Via Stefano Oberto 69, 00173 Roma, Italy
| | - Manlio Marcelli
- Lutria sas Wildlife Research and Consulting, Via Stefano Oberto 69, 00173 Roma, Italy
| | - Emiliano Mori
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Florence, Italy
- National Biodiversity Future Center, 90133 Palermo, Italy
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