A country full of rivers, lakes and canals sounds like paradise for animals that love water. But for a long time, two of them were missing completely. Their return is one of the best stories of Dutch nature conservation.
The Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber)
The beaver (bever) is the largest rodent in Europe. It has orange front teeth, thick brown fur and a flat, scaly tail that it uses to steer in the water. Beavers are vegetarians: they eat water plants, bark and twigs. With their strong teeth they can cut down trees, and they build lodges and sometimes dams from branches and mud.
People hunted beavers for their fur, their meat and a strong-smelling substance called castoreum. In 1826 the last Dutch beaver was killed. For more than 150 years there were no beavers in the country.
In 1988, beavers from the river Elbe in Germany were released in the Biesbosch, a large freshwater tidal area near Dordrecht. The animals liked their new home. More beavers were later released in other areas, and today they live along many Dutch rivers and streams.
Beavers are “ecosystem engineers”: their dams create small ponds and wet areas where fish, frogs, insects and birds can live.
The Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)
The otter (otter) is a long, elegant predator from the weasel family. It swims fast and catches fish, frogs and crayfish. Otters are very shy and mostly active at night, so even people who live near them rarely see one.
In the 20th century, otters suffered from hunting, polluted water and busy roads. In 1988 the last wild otter in the Netherlands was found dead — the species was officially extinct. Cleaner water and new nature areas made a return possible, and in 2002 otters were released in the Weerribben-Wieden National Park in the province of Overijssel. From there the population slowly spread to other regions.
Living with the newcomers
Their return also brings challenges. Beavers sometimes dig holes in dikes, which can be dangerous in a country below sea level, so water managers watch them closely. For otters, traffic is the biggest danger: many are killed on roads. Special tunnels under roads and fences along them help otters cross safely.