Fyn’s celebrated beaver turns out to be the wrong species

A swimming rodent hailed as a sensation on the Danish island of Funen is actually a coypu, not a European beaver, DR reports.

The video from Odense Fjord sparked debate after it was presented as evidence of Funen’s first beaver. But nature communicator Sebastian Klein became doubtful when he watched the footage.

“It is lying high in the water, there is something about the nostrils, I cannot see the tail, and I was in doubt because you cannot see the white whiskers, which are normally very clear on a coypu,” he said.

Klein then contacted researchers, biologists and other experts. He said coypus are an invasive South American species and that sightings of beavers in unexpected locations should prompt consideration that the animal could be a coypu instead.

European beavers and coypus look very similar. The grainy footage also made it difficult to judge the animal’s size, leading Klein to describe the mistake as an “honest mistake”.

Heiko Buch-Illing, director of the two Funen nature museums Fjord and Bælt and Naturama, initially had no doubt that the video showed a beaver.

“It was not the best quality, I must say in my defence,” he said, acknowledging that he may also have been carried away by his enthusiasm for nature.

Coypus are not welcome in Denmark. Animals found in Danish nature have often escaped from fur farms, and Buch-Illing warned that if the species spreads, it could damage a great deal of nature.

Although he was disappointed that the planned beaver celebration had become a fiasco, Buch-Illing said the incident could still encourage more people to take an interest in different species.