Beaver kills fisherman in Belarus: A 60-year-old fisherman in Ostromechevo, Belarus, was driving to Shestakovskoye lake in early April, when he saw a beaver along the side of the road. He tried to grab the animal, wanting to take a picture with it according to the Telegraph. It bit his leg, severing a major artery.
A video posted on YouTube by Russia Tonight in April is said to show another beaver attack in Belarus. A man films a beaver walking along the road. The beaver turns toward him and charges, causing him to drop the camera. The fatal attack in April was one in a string of attacks as beavers face humans in a shrinking natural habitat.
Beavers have made a comeback in Europe after having been nearly hunted to extinction. The beaver population in Belarus has tripled in the past decade, reaching an estimated 80,000.
Beavers are more aggressive in spring, as young males strike out to find their own dwellings, leaving the parental dams, explain wildlife experts. Beavers, mostly nocturnal, can also become disoriented and fearful in daytime, according to Viktor Kozlovsky, a wildlife expert.
Sergei Shtyk, the deputy head of the region’s wildlife inspectorate, said of the fatal attack, “It was early morning and already light when they saw a beaver by the road, which was unusual because beavers are nocturnal,” according to the Telegraph.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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