https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/n/nutria/
An invasive species that I have seen in my hometown of Newberg Oregon is Nutria (Myocastor Coypus). They inhabited the forest/creek that ran through my families backyard and around our Cul-de-sac. Nutria compete with native species for food, resources, and habitat. They also cause destruction to natural landscape through burrowing.
“Nutria are native to South America and were introduced deliberately into North America for fur farming in the 1930s. In Oregon, the species is limited to areas in the southern Willamette Valley and central Coastal Region. It usually occurs in or adjacent to rivers, lakes, sloughs, marshes, ponds, and temporarily flooded fields. Nutrias construct burrows in banks of rivers, sloughs, and ponds, sometimes causing considerable erosion.” (https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/invasive-species (Links to an external site.))
This invasion could have been prevented in multiple ways. Their transportation from South America, simply for economic benefit through fur farming, could have been prevented. Establishing hundreds of Nutria Farms in the Pacific Northwest could have been prevented. Farmers releasing Nutria when it became uneconomical, also could have been prevented. This invasion could have been prevented if the economical benefits of fur trade didn’t influence people to transport them here and establish farms.
