The Beaver
This humble animal took an important part
of the development of Canada since the 16th century. In Europe, wearing
a fine beaver
hat was to
prove one's standing, therefore the demand for
pelts was high. So valuable were these pelts that the sand from the
floor in warehouses where they were stored was sifted to salvage every
last hair. Back then, the beaver population was important, 200-400
million in North America. In
the 19th century, marchands like the Hudson's Bay Company could sell overhalf
a million pelts during a single auction. To the Indians, the beaver
pelt was a key mean to development and properity. They traded pelts
against rare and valuable goods such as cooking pots, knives, axes,
arrow points, guns, glass beads and
wool blankets. ByHowever, by 1929 the beaver population had been reduced to such
an extent that the animal was in danger of becoming extinct. , good
management allowed the population of this sympatetical rodent to recoved
from its heavy losses, With over 80,000 trappers in Canada, the fur
market is
still very much alive today.
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