Read more
From all over the animal Kingdom, beavers are the most skilled "architects" or in construction "engineers". By damming rivers, building their shelters, adapted to different conditions in different areas, and especially by maintaining and repairing the huts where they take refuge every year, beavers are increasingly arousing the interest of scientists to better understand their biology and their habits. Like interpretations of the ethology of other animals, beaver behaviour was usually explained anthropomorphically. Loosing their preferred habitats, being over-exploited for their meat, furs and castoreum, the beavers were not at all well understood and protected by man and in some regions were pushed to extinction.
About the author
Dr. Dumitru Murariu is a zoologist, specialized in study of mammals about which he wrote more than 350 scientific articles, reviews and 26 books on these beings. He worked 45 years at the "Grigore Antipa" National Museum of Natural History and since 2016 is director of the Institute of Biology of the Romanian Academy.
