Coypus: How an Invasive Rodent Is Reshaping Europe’s Rivers (Documentary, 2021)

Coypus look like beavers with rats’ tails, but they’re South American rodents. For decades, they have been colonizing Europe’s lakes, rivers and canals. Here, they dig tunnels and caves in the banks and eat the vegetation, endangering dikes and dams. Originally, the animals came from fur farms where they were bred for their fur up till the end of the 20th century. Many of them escaped and after the fur trade collapsed, still more were simply released. Undisturbed, they spread throughout the waterways. According to a European Union resolution, these alien creatures are on the list of undesirable species as invaders that must be combated. And for good reason: in the Bienen Old Rhine nature reserve in western Germany, they have damaged the reedbed vegetation to such an extent that rare waterfowl species have lost breeding and feeding grounds. In the Netherlands, hunters are trying to eradicate the coypus because they hollow out dams and dikes. On the other hand, in many of Germany’s city parks, these animals with their cute, piggy noses and orange beaver-like front teeth are popular with visitors, and have few hunters to fear. Despite bans and the threat of fines for feeding them, the trusting rodents are fed and generally left in peace. In wildlife sanctuaries, animal lovers devote a lot of effort and expense to rearing orphaned coypus. The film visits opponents and friends of the coypus and illustrates what has made this imported species so successful in its new habitat. ------- Chapters ▷ 00:00 - Introduction ▷ 01:07 - City Coypus - Living Wild in Urban Germany ▷ 02:15 - Built to Survive - Diet, Teeth & Endless Appetite ▷ 04:29 - Burrows, Neighbours & Natural Enemies ▷ 05:55 - A Growing Problem - Coypus and Damaged Dikes ▷ 06:50 - Netherlands vs Coypus - Fighting an Invasive Species ▷ 08:43 - Perfect Swimmers - Life Between Land and Water ▷ 10:39 - From South America to Europe - The Fur Farm Legacy ▷ 12:28 - Cute but Dangerous - Why Coypus Spread So Fast ▷ 15:42 - Super Breeders - How One Pair Becomes Thousands ▷ 17:13 - Trapping the Invaders - High-Tech Coypu Control ▷ 18:43 - Zero Coypus - The Dutch Eradication Strategy ▷ 21:44 - Native vs Alien - Otters, Beavers & Muskrats ▷ 23:23 - Nature in Trouble - Reeds, Birds & Vanishing Habitats ▷ 25:28 - Bonn's Coypus - When Cities Choose Tolerance ▷ 29:39 - Life and Death - Ethical Dilemmas of Control ▷ 32:14 - Sanctuary Coypus - When Killing Is Not an Option ▷ 36:11 - Proof of Damage - Coypus Destroy the Reed Beds ▷ 39:00 - EU Blacklist - Invasive Species Policy Explained ▷ 42:38 - Zoos, Sterilisation & the End of Breeding ▷ 45:20 - Are Coypus Ever Useful? Pros, Cons & Climate Change ▷ 47:33 - Nature Recovers - Reeds and Rare Birds Return ▷ 50:09 - Final Question - Shouly Coypus Stay or Go? ▷ 51:34 - Credits #documentary #animals #wildlife #nature #coypu #nutria #alienspecies #conservation #ecosystem #animalbehavior #animalplanet ------- Watch all videos in our playlist: https://bit.ly/49hcVqb Subscribe to wocomoWILDLIFE: https://goo.gl/L5puvQ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wocomo ------- Ostrich-sized rheas trample fresh shoots in the farmlands of northern Germany. Flocks of bright green parakeets screech around Cologne cathedral. And beaver-like, orange-toothed coypus gnaw at Dutch dams and dikes. All these “nuisance” animals are non-native and are suspected of causing ecological and economic damage. Should the invaders be fought against? Or is it just prejudice against previously unknown species? This short series of three films gets to the bottom of the accusations against alien species. To achieve this, the immigrant creatures are observed in their new environment, their relationship with other species is examined and the latest scientific findings are presented. Original title: Coypus | They Came to Stay - Our Alien Animal Neighbours A film by Herbert Ostwald © 2021, Licensed by Albatross ------- Videos about animals, aquatic life and nature: wocomoWILDLIFE offers high-quality entertainment. The films on our channel are produced by leading production companies. Check out our other channels to watch high quality documentaries: ▷ wocomoHUMANITY: https://www.youtube.com/@wocomoHUMANITY ▷ wocomoDOCS: https://www.youtube.com/@wocomodocs ▷ wocomoHISTORY: https://www.youtube.com/@wocomoHISTORY ▷ wocomoTRAVEL: https://www.youtube.com/@wocomoTRAVEL ▷ wocomoCOOK: https://www.youtube.com/@wocomocook WocomoWILDLIFE is part of the Wocomo channel network by NIKITA VENTURES. Wocomo - wonderful content in motion.