Curtailing the coypu

Now the subject of rare UFO-like ‘sightings’, coypu were commonplace in their 1950s heyday. G Lorne examines the rodent’s rise and fall

- G Lorne

Of all the creatures that ever wandered into our village, I would think that the coypu was the strangest that I ever witnessed. Originating from South America, the coypu is a semiaquatic rodent that was brought to the UK in 1929 to be farmed for its fur. At that time, it was a valuable fashion accessory known as nutria.

It wasn’t long before there were escapees from farms in Sussex, Devon, Hampshire and Norfolk, and by the 1930s the coypu had begun to breed rapidly in the wild. An adult female could carry at least two litters each year and, with up to 13 young in each litter, their numbers simply rocketed.

For some reason, it appears that the coypu reproduced far better in the wild than they ever did in the captivity and protection of the nutria farms.

These giant vegetarians had no natural enemies in the wild and, at first, were treated as little more than a curiosity. As they ate their way voraciously through the vegetation that clogged the dykes and drains in vast areas of the fens and broads, they were, for a time, considered to be quite an asset.

Several species of waterfowl benefited from the improved habitat, as did the Marshman and pleasure boaters who could now navigate areas that had been impenetrable since World War I, when a shortage of manpower had seen the dykes become neglected and overgrown.

Lucrative market

It was during World War II that fresh interest in nutria was instigated, mainly due to the rationing of clothes. Subsequently, a fur dealer offered 30 shillings for each coypu pelt and there were soon few Marshman who were not enthusiastically cashing in on this lucrative market.