Belgium/Haute-Sambre: dozens of volunteers survey beavers

It's become an annual habit along the Haute-Sambre. Nature lovers carry out a census of the beavers that have reestablished themselves in the region over the last twenty years.

In small groups, these volunteers survey the various stretches (around ten, 5 km long) of the Sambre and its tributaries, looking for traces left by the beavers that live there. Depending on the density of vegetation, a beaver family (between 4 and 6 individuals) may occupy a few hundred meters of riverbank, but sometimes more than a kilometer.

The aim of this census is to monitor the redeployment of the beaver, now a protected species, and to map as precisely as possible their various living areas.

Thanks to last year's survey, we know that around 30 beavers live along the 60 km of riverbank in the Haute-Sambre region. The results of this Saturday's observations carried out in Belgium and simultaneously on the other side of the border by other volunteers will enable us to update and refine these figures.

Source: www.rtbf.be/