New records of Castor canadensis from the Conchos River, Chihuahua, México

Abstract

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis), has not been recorded in Chihuahua since 1972.  We surveyed several sections of the Conchos River and its affluents in different areas of Chihuahua by walking along the rivers or canoeing looking for signs of their presence (tracks, gnawed tree trunks, felled trees and dens), in areas were beavers have been recorded in the past.  We found no beavers in the surveyed areas of the Conchos River and its tributaries.  The only place at Conchos River that we found them was at Pegüis Canyon.  The area is the only well-preserved habitat where beavers were found.  This beaver population is probably derived from the beavers found at Rio Grande near Ojinaga or from the Natural Protected Area of Cañón de Santa Elena further south.  Our findings suggest that the area is fairly well-preserved and important for the distribution of beavers in northern México.  There is a clear need to conserve this section of the Conchos River as an important corridor for beavers, which are listed as endangered by NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010.