This week, nature authorities are trying to get a count on beavers in Denmark and 130 people have volunteered to go out and check the numbers.
The count will take place across large parts of Jutland, including Klosterheden and Vesthimmerland.
“We are very grateful that so many people are willing to help us keep tabs on the beaver population,” Thomas Borup Svendsen, a forest ranger from Naturstyrelsen Vestjylland, told DR Nyheder.
“It would be pretty overwhelming if we had to have 130 people out there from early morning to late at night getting wages and being paid for miles driven.”
READ MORE: Beaver spotted in northern Jutland for first time in 1,000 years
Expanding rapidly
Beavers were hunted to extinction in Denmark some 1,000 years ago, but in 1999 about 18 were reintroduced into the woodlands of Klosterheden Plantage – an area in Jutland near Struer, Lemvig and Holstebro.
Apparently the semi-aquatic rodent is not just a work horse in terms of building dams. It’s industrious in the ‘bedroom chamber’ as well.
The population has now grown to well over 200, and the beaver has spread to other parts of Jutland. Late last year, a beaver was spotted near Jammerbugtens Golf Club in Fjerritslev, some 100 kilometres north of Klosterheden Plantage.
Earlier this month some 50 volunteers took part in counting beavers in Zealand.
