So what is the advantages of such a cross?
Beaver reintroductions in the UK
- Thread starter vogelcommando
- Start date
It started as an experiment, our commie security forces wanted to get a type of German shephard with higher endurance and less degenerative illnesses. A dog that could serve at border patrols in our mountains. The experiment failed because negative traits of wolf could not be bred-out despite several generations of strict selection of cubs. Project got discontinued and remaining dogs sold to public.
Wolf hybrids are fascinating so people started to keep them as companion breed and it gained popularity. Nowadays two main types exist. Italian show-line (Italy has by far the highest population of vlčáks), taller slim whitter dogs bred for shows and appearance. Czech working line, lower, stocky and "ugly", but selected also by character test and training results. Some best dogs from this line are usable - for obedience, sport and I have even met a certified assistance/therapy vlčák. But their training is specific and not easy.
One of best current breeding male of the working line:
A nice female from Slovakia that can keep with German and Belgian shepherds.
Last edited:
Not surprising that dog hybrids with wolves are harder to train. Breeds that have had less 'improvement' such as sled/spitz dogs are notoriously difficult to train. Also the fad of breeding domestic cats with exotic species have had similar issues (less tractable) until something like the F3 generation.
Good thinking!!
Isn't the argument something like 'they inherit the confidence of the domesticated dog element but the unpredictable nature of the wolf element, meaning they are largely intractable?
The people who breed or wish to own these cross breeds the same sort of people who wear camouflage clothing as casual wear, and who have large collections of knives on their living room walls......
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Maybe true for many owners, but she doesn't look very much like a survivalist really to me.
Last edited:
Some more beaver news - the two beavers at Knepp Estate that escaped their enclosure (male Bramber and female Billie) were recaptured. The male beaver died on the night of his arrival back at Knepp. The female is now awaiting relocation to another licensed beaver enclosure.
Information comes from the link below:
A Tale of Two Beavers: at Knepp Estate - Beaver Trust
Information comes from the link below:
A Tale of Two Beavers: at Knepp Estate - Beaver Trust
A male and female beaver have been introduced into an enclosure in western Dorset, after an absence of 400 years. These beavers were relocated under license from Scotland.
Information can be found in the link below:
Beavers reintroduced to Dorset after 400-year absence
Plans are also in place for at least twenty more beavers to be released at sites in England and Wales this year. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust will release a pair and their kits into a 47-hectare enclosure in Willington Wetlands Reserve to help with local flood defences. Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust plans to release at least four beavers into a large enclosure in the Idle Valley Nature Reserve over the summer. Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust in Wales hope to release a pair of beavers into an enclosure in Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve. Subject to license approval, beavers will be released onto the Eastern Yar on the Isle of Wight.
More schemes are also expected in 2022, including an urban beaver release in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
More information can be found here:
Beavers reintroduced to parts of England and Wales
Information can be found in the link below:
Beavers reintroduced to Dorset after 400-year absence
Plans are also in place for at least twenty more beavers to be released at sites in England and Wales this year. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust will release a pair and their kits into a 47-hectare enclosure in Willington Wetlands Reserve to help with local flood defences. Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust plans to release at least four beavers into a large enclosure in the Idle Valley Nature Reserve over the summer. Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust in Wales hope to release a pair of beavers into an enclosure in Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve. Subject to license approval, beavers will be released onto the Eastern Yar on the Isle of Wight.
More schemes are also expected in 2022, including an urban beaver release in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
More information can be found here:
Beavers reintroduced to parts of England and Wales
I was aware of the Willington plans but had somehow missed the Idle Valley news - that's fantastic.
A free-living beaver has been spotted on the bank of the River Fal, near a tea plantation in Cornwall. There have been three releases of beavers in enclosures in Cornwall, but the source of this animal is unknown. The beaver will only be removed if it becomes a nuisance.
More information can be found in the link below:
Cornwall tea plantation wild beaver sighting a 'first'
More information can be found in the link below:
Cornwall tea plantation wild beaver sighting a 'first'
Lois Crisler in her book ‘Captive Wild’ refers to the unreliability of wolf hybrids compared with either parent species
There has been some confusing news on online sources recently, suggesting beavers will be released into an enclosure in Tottenham, London. This is false.
Instead, what is actually happening is that a free-living population in Kent is expanding to the point that some conservationists are expecting them to naturally recolonise the capital within five to ten years. Instead of releasing beavers, there are projects aiming to prepare London for the eventual recolonisation.
More information can be found here:
The real reason why beavers could be coming to London
Instead, what is actually happening is that a free-living population in Kent is expanding to the point that some conservationists are expecting them to naturally recolonise the capital within five to ten years. Instead of releasing beavers, there are projects aiming to prepare London for the eventual recolonisation.
More information can be found here:
The real reason why beavers could be coming to London
It looks like reestablishing beavers in Britain is taking a very different path than in continental Europe. In Europe, it was done by translocating wild beavers from overpopulated or problem places to new locations, which reestablished the species very fast.
I don't know of any place in Continental Europe which released beavers into a fenced enclosure. It appears very expensive, and preventing escapes is difficult.
I don't know of any place in Continental Europe which released beavers into a fenced enclosure. It appears very expensive, and preventing escapes is difficult.
I don´t think that releasing beavers into fenced enclosures should be ever called rewilding. It is still captive holding in a pen.
However I find it very good that some organisations are preparing the city of London for time beavers will return. They can do some damage to large trees and anti-flooding dams, physical precautions should be placed asap. They can replicate quickly, city of Prague went from zero to first 100 wild beavers in just 5 years.
However I find it very good that some organisations are preparing the city of London for time beavers will return. They can do some damage to large trees and anti-flooding dams, physical precautions should be placed asap. They can replicate quickly, city of Prague went from zero to first 100 wild beavers in just 5 years.
I know Spurs are in need of a few fresh faces but I’d put nothing past Daniel Levy if there’s money to be made!
Remember UK has not had wild beavers for hundreds of years. So there is an element of caution involved with releasing them. It is an expensive halfway house method but that's just the way it is here.
When you consider that quite a few well groomed and expert UK conservation staff have stepped into the international arena and done some real cool and wonderful conservation work, it seems the clocks are ticking a lot slower at home (for reasons I cannot personally phantom nor support as a conservation-minded individual).
Honestly, I cannot see any valid reasons to tread and be so peckish and almost ultra conservative on re-establishing modern and more high profile Holocene fauna formerly resident within the UK back to the wild. This relates in particular to iconic missing in action species like beaver, lynx, moose, European wisent and wild horse.
It is all the more surprising ... if you consider that as UK scientists have been at the forefront for reintroduction work with smaller species like dormice, red squirrel and pine marten, ... so why not move forward on some of the bigger ones yet missing?
There have been several sightings of free-living beavers in the River Avon catchment area, including three kits. The exact location of the colony remains undisclosed to allow the beavers to thrive.
More information can be found in the link below:
River Avon wild beaver family sighting 'extremely significant'
More information can be found in the link below:
River Avon wild beaver family sighting 'extremely significant'
For the first time, a translocation of beavers to a new site in Scotland has been approved. The license allows the release of two families and one pair of beaver (from the wild population in Tayside) into Argaty, a working farm in Perthshire best-known for its successful red kite reintroduction project. The beavers will be released into specially-chosen ponds and will not be fenced in.
This could have important consequences for beaver conservation in Scotland as, although they are a protected species, over 200 have been culled in the past two years to try and protect farms and woodland. With this project, translocation to areas on the edge the beaver's current range are now possible.
More information can be found in the link below:
Translocation of Scottish beavers given the green light
This could have important consequences for beaver conservation in Scotland as, although they are a protected species, over 200 have been culled in the past two years to try and protect farms and woodland. With this project, translocation to areas on the edge the beaver's current range are now possible.
More information can be found in the link below:
Translocation of Scottish beavers given the green light