Beavers in Tierra del Fuego
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IMPORTANT: Some information, images or videos may date from a visit made in 2017 or earlier.
A striking thing to see in Tierra del Fuego are the beaver lodges, which are dams built by beavers in the rivers.
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a nocturnal mammal that was introduced to Tierra del Fuego. Not having natural predators as in North America, where they are native, they reproduced in such a way that today they are present in a large part of the province and have even moved into Chilean territory. They damage the ecosystem by altering the natural environment, ruining trees and modifying rivers.
You can see them in several places, such as in the Tierra del Fuego National Park (when I went there I was told that several of the park's beaver dams were already inactive) or on the road to Laguna Esmeralda. They are easy to recognise or identify, as they look like channels of branches and pieces of wood in piles that interrupt watercourses.
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a nocturnal mammal that was introduced to Tierra del Fuego. Not having natural predators as in North America, where they are native, they reproduced in such a way that today they are present in a large part of the province and have even moved into Chilean territory. They damage the ecosystem by altering the natural environment, ruining trees and modifying rivers.
You can see them in several places, such as in the Tierra del Fuego National Park (when I went there I was told that several of the park's beaver dams were already inactive) or on the road to Laguna Esmeralda. They are easy to recognise or identify, as they look like channels of branches and pieces of wood in piles that interrupt watercourses.