Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The beaver hunt in Färnebofjärdens national park started in 2002. The aim of the hunt was to decrease the beaver population and save the deciduous trees close to the waterline which are very important for many other species in the national park. The northern part of the national park is however free from beaver hunt. In this study I wanted to see if the hunt did in fact decrease the beaver population or not. My first hypothesis is: The yearly growth of the population is negative or lower in the hunting area. Hypothesis number two is: The lodges in the hunting area are less active than the lodges in the area without hunt. Data from the inventory and hunting reports was handed out by The County administration board in Gävleborg. There are in total 28 active lodges in the national park in 2017, 18 of those are in the area with hunt and 10 are in the area without hunt. The hunting pressure lies between 18% to 67% of the estimated population. Despite the high hunting pressure, the population does not decrease significantly. The population does neither respond to the variety of hunting pressure. The reason why the population does not decrease despite the hunt can be because beavers come from other rivers and in to the national park and occupy the empty lodges.