Okriftel.
They are actually from South America and have been kept in Europe for a long time as a fur animal, sometimes as a meat supplier. When the business with them in the 1990s was no longer worthwhile, some breeders released their animals - in the mistaken belief that the beaver rats could not survive in the local climate. Meanwhile, the nutria has spread throughout Central Europe.
Beaver rats or marsh beavers, as the nutria is still called, are also found in the Okrifteler grove. The animals dependent on watercourses feel comfortable there, because the Main stays ice-free in winter, says David Kreddig of the Lower Nature Conservation Agency. In addition come that the animals are fed there, for example at the Bonnemühle. And in general, the animals like to live close to human settlements, credulous. Of course, the Nutrias along the river have come to Okriftel - in the point works the biotope networking, which is just so important for the protection of species. For other animals, the Okrifteler grove is a completely cut off area. Boars and deer do not give it in the grove, since this is cut from other forest areas by motorway and ICE distance, explains Kreddig. Especially the highway is an insurmountable barrier for the game.
QueLLe: Kreisblatt.de