In the Chesapeake Bay region in Maryland, where they were introduced in the 1940s, coypus are believed to have destroyed 2,800 to 3,200 hectares (7,000 to 8,000 acres) of marshland in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. By the early 2000s, the Coastwide Nutria Control Program was established, which began paying bounties for nutria killed in 2002. Damage in Louisiana has been sufficiently severe since the 1950s to warrant legislative attention in 1958, the first bounty was placed on nutria, though this effort was not funded. From Louisiana, coypus have spread across the Southern United States, wreaking havoc on marshland.įollowing a decline in demand for coypu fur, coypu have since become pests in many areas, destroying aquatic vegetation, marshes, and irrigation systems, and chewing through man-made items such as tires and wooden house panelling in Louisiana, eroding river banks, and displacing native animals. In 1940, some of the nutria escaped during a hurricane and quickly populated coastal marshes, inland swamps, and other wetland areas. McIlhenny who released his entire stock in 1945 on Avery Island. Coypu were released into the wild by at least one Louisiana nutria farmer in 1933 and these releases were followed by E. Coypus from these farms often escaped, or were deliberately released into the wild to provide a game animal or to remove aquatic vegetation.Ĭoypus were introduced to the Louisiana ecosystem in the 1930s, when they escaped from fur farms that had imported them from South America. The South American farms were very successful, and led to the growth of similar farms in North America and Europe. The first efficient and extensive coypu farms were located in South America in the 1920s. The first attempt at coypu farming was in France in the early 1880s, but it was not much of a success. These farms have generally not been successful long-term investments, and farmed coypu often are released or escape as operations become unprofitable. The first farms were in Argentina and then later in Europe, North America, and Asia. Local extinction in their native range due to overharvesting led to the development of coypu fur farms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, beavers' tails are flat and paddle-like, as opposed to the round tails of coypus. It can also be mistaken for a small beaver, as beavers and coypus have very similar anatomies. The muskrat, however, is smaller and more tolerant of cold climates, and has a laterally flattened tail it uses to assist in swimming, whereas the tail of a coypu is round. The nipples of female coypu are high on her flanks, to allow their young to feed while the female is in the water.Ī coypu is often mistaken for a muskrat, another widely dispersed, semiaquatic rodent that occupies the same wetland habitats. Three distinguishing features are a white patch on the muzzle, webbed hind feet, and large, bright orange-yellow incisors. They have coarse, darkish brown outer fur with soft dense grey under fur, also called the nutria. It is possible for coypu to weigh up to 16 to 17 kg (35 to 37 lb), although adults usually average 4.5 to 7 kg (10 to 15 lb). Adults are typically 4–9 kg (9–20 lb) in weight, and 40–60 cm (16–24 in) in body length, with a 30 to 45 cm (12 to 18 in) tail. The coypu somewhat resembles a very large rat, or a beaver with a small tail. In Brazil, the animal is known as ratão-do-banhado (big swamp rat), nútria, or caxingui (the last from the Tupi language). In Swedish, the animal is known as sumpbäver (marsh/swamp beaver). In Italy, instead, the popular name is, as in North America and Asia, "nutria", but it is also called castorino ("little beaver"), by which its fur is known in Italy. In German, it is known as Nutria, Biberratte (beaver rat), or Sumpfbiber (swamp beaver). In Dutch, it is known as beverrat (beaver rat). In France, the coypu is known as a ragondin. To avoid this ambiguity, the name "coypu" or "coipo" (derived from the Mapudungun language) is used in Latin America and parts of Europe. The name "nutria" (from Spanish word nutria, meaning 'otter') is generally used in North America, Asia, and throughout countries of the former Soviet Union however, in most Spanish-speaking countries, the word "nutria" refers primarily to the otter. Two names are commonly used in English for Myocastor coypus. Literally, therefore, the name Myocastor means "beaver rat". The genus name Myocastor derives from the two Ancient Greek words μῦς ( mûs), meaning "rat, mouse", and κάστωρ ( kástōr), meaning "beaver".
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