beaver,  images

Header image choice

I decided to use one of the pictures of the very first beaver reintroduced to Sweden in 1922 as the initial header image for this blog.

This reintroduction project, the first successful and sustained reintroduction of beaver in Europe, is what brought me to investigate nativeness and naturalness through reintroduction.

The first pair of beavers brought back to Sweden, which were trapped in Norway in one of the last remaining beaver colonies in that country, were overwintered at Skansen, the first open air museum and zoo in Stockholm. In the summer, the pair made the long journey to Bjurälvdalen in Jämtland county where they were released. A series of photos of the beavers were taken at Skansen and published in the book Nordiska Däggdjur by Alarik Behm in 1922. Interestingly, although Skansen served as temporary home for the beavers, Skansen never installed a permanent exhibit of beavers, although you can see otters and other Nordic animals there.

Here are some of the photos published in Nordiska Däggdjur of the ‘Adam and Eve’ of Swedish beavers.

Behm, p.136 (1922)Behm, p.137 (1922) Behm, p. 138 (1922)

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