Luxembourg’s beaver population is thriving after the first animals naturally returned to the country some 15 years ago, ending an absence of 200 years.
Nature lovers put the world’s second-largest rodent – trumped only by the capybara from South America – on a pedestal, because of its ability to create a living environment that attracts insects and thus birds.
Journalists from the Luxemburger Times set out on a mini-safari to spot the elusive animal, taking pictures and filming five individuals from a discreet distance on the banks of the river Sûre.
Biologist Laurent Schley, who works for the government, has the full story in the video below. Did you know that beavers were hunted down for a secretion known as castoreum – used as a sort of 18th century Viagra?
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