January 24th 1672: The first Hudson’s Bay Company fur sale took place in England.
Beavers were an important part of the Fur Trader’s life. They killed and traded them and helped shape Canada into the country we know and love today. Unfortunately by 1900 our national symbol became almost extinct. Fortunately a few animals survived until the 1930’s when the Englishman Archibald Stansfeld Belaney, who passed himself off as the Native naturalist known as Grey Owl managed to revive their numbers.
Note: In 1946, officials from South America decided to start a fur trade industry. They imported 25 pairs of Canadian Beavers, and released them into the wilds of Chile and Argentina. These new animals settled in to their new environment, and soon multiplied beyond imagination. Having no natural predators, and evidently not even Fur Traders, these giant rodents are now considered a plague, and are even a major threat to the South American Rain Forests.
Source:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/kcic1/beaver.html