Eurasian beaver
Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is a species in the family Castoridae, order Rodentia. It has been recorded in 36 countries, most often in Switzerland, United Kingdom and France. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the Eurasian beaver
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 105 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Recorded in
- 36 countriessrc for Recorded in
Where does the Eurasian beaver live?
Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF. This shows where the species has been recorded, including zoos and introduced populations. It is not a definitive range.
The Eurasian beaver has been recorded in 36 countries, from 305,809 records.
- None on record
- 1–9
- 10–99
- 100–999
- 1,000+
The same figures as a list, most records first
- Switzerland166,798
- United Kingdom39,756
- France39,711
- Germany14,620
- Sweden13,753
- Norway10,597
- Belgium8,709
- Russia3,253
- Austria2,416
- Ukraine1,540
- Estonia1,037
- Denmark633
- Luxembourg629
- Poland619
- Liechtenstein593
- Netherlands337
- Spain253
- Finland160
- Czechia103
- Lithuania71
- Hungary45
- Belarus36
- Croatia32
- Slovakia31
- Latvia16
- Canada11
- Romania11
- Mongolia9
- Slovenia9
- United States7
- Italy5
- Kazakhstan3
- Bosnia & Herzegovina2
- Serbia2
- Bulgaria1
- Israel1
What is the Eurasian beaver?
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) or European beaver is a species of beaver widespread across Eurasia, with a rapidly increasing population of 1.5 million in 2020. The Eurasian beaver was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum, with only about 1,200 beavers in eight relict populations from France to Mongolia in the early 20th century. It has since been reintroduced into much of its former range and now lives from Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia through China and Mongolia, with about half the population in Russia. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Wikipedia contributors, “Eurasian beaver”, Wikipedia (revision 1383766511), retrieved 2026-11-11. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; this block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the Eurasian beaver endangered?
The Eurasian beaver is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the Eurasian beaver classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyCastoridae
- genusCastor
- SpeciesCastor fiber Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Castor albicus, Castor albus, Castor balticus, Castor fulvus, Castor galliae, Castor gallicus, Castor niger, Castor plicidens, Castor praefiber, Castor proprius, Castor solitarius, Castor variegatus, Castor vistulanus
Names in other languages (17)
- Castor d'EuropeFrench
- Europäischer BiberGerman
- Castor-europeuPortuguese
- beverDutch
- europeisk bäverSwedish
- ヨーロッパビーバーJapanese
- 欧亚河狸Chinese
- قندس أوراسيArabic
- обыкновенный бобрRussian
- Eurasischer BiberGerman
- Castor EuropeoSpanish
- Castor d'EurasieFrench
- europese bever, beverDutch
- castor deuropeFrench
- European beaver, eurasian beaverEnglish
- 河狸Chinese
- Europäische BiberGerman
GBIFWikidataWikipediaNCBI TaxonomyITISEncyclopedia of LifeiNaturalistWoRMS
Relatives of the Eurasian beaver
Other species in the same class Mammalia.
Red fox
Vulpes vulpes
Grey wolf
Canis lupus
Lion
Panthera leo
Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus
Jaguar
Panthera onca
Tiger
Panthera tigris
CompareEurasian beaver vs Red foxEurasian beaver vs Grey wolfEurasian beaver vs LionEurasian beaver vs Koala
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
Where does the Eurasian beaver live?
The Eurasian beaver has openly licensed sighting records from 36 countries on GBIF. The most records come from Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Sweden. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.
Is the Eurasian beaver endangered?
The Eurasian beaver is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long is the Eurasian beaver pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 105 days.
What kind of animal is the Eurasian beaver?
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) belongs to the family Castoridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · live API 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata, the free knowledge base. - GBIF occurrence aggregates (CC0 and CC BY records only) · CC BY 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
GBIF.org occurrence search, country facet counts restricted to CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 records. - Wikimedia Commons · Per file · live API 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Licence and creator recorded per file. - English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · live API 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-beaver
“Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-beaver.
@misc{eurasian_beaver_2026,
title = {Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-beaver},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}