The European beaver has been spotted in Italy for the first time in almost 500 years. 
 
 The male beaver has been spotted several times in the last week. (Photo: ANSA/Renato Pontarini) 
 
 The male beaver has been spotted several times in the last week. (Photo: ANSA/Renato Pontarini) 
 
 Camera traps captured images of a male beaver in the forests of Tarvisiano, in the north-eastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia which shares a border with both Austria and Slovenia. 
 
 The beaver, who seems to be a lone ranger, has been caught on camera several times over the past week. 
 
 Wildlife experts suspect he crossed the border to Italy from Austria. 
 
 Locals believed the area had a visitor when they noticed unusual tracks on the ground and marks on branches, so they contacted conservation experts from the University of Turin, who then set up hidden cameras in the area. 
 
 Researchers have nicknamed the historic creature “Ponta” in honour of Renato Pontarini, the photographer who first caught him on camera. 
 
 The cute critter’s new name also refers to the bridges that beavers are famous for creating, as the word ponte is the Italian for “bridge”. 
 
 European beavers were once common from Britain to China, but were hunted to near extinction for their fur and castoreum, an anal secretion the animals use to mark their territories, which – believe it or not – was once used to add scent to perfume and flavour to food. 
 
 While the species has been successfully reintroduced in parts of its former habitat, including in Croatia, it remained extinct in Italy from the 16th century until now. 

 An animal considered a Canadian icon has resurfaced in Italy after an absence of more than 500 years. 
 
 A beaver was captured on camera in northeast Italy, marking the first sighting of the animal in that country since 1471. 
 
 Scientists were observing otters last week when the male beaver was seen walking into frame. 
 
 While the beaver was valued in Canada for its pelt, the animal was widely hunted and eaten in Italy and other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and considered white meat — the same as fish — so Catholics could eat them on Fridays. 
 
 The animal didn't make a return to Central Europe until the 1980s, when conservationists reintroduced the species with beavers from northern Russia. 
 
 Scientists believe the beaver caught on camera is likely a descendant of a group that was introduced by conservationists to the Danube river, which runs through a large swath of Eastern and Central Europe. The European beavers are a distinct species, different from Canadian beavers.
– Scientists checking a camera set up to observe otters in northern Italy were thrilled when another furry creature wandered into the frame—the first beaver seen in the country in centuries. The last recorded sighting of a beaver in Italy—where they were hunted for food in the Middle Ages as a "white meat" that Catholics could eat on Fridays—was in 1471, the CBC reports. The male beaver has been nicknamed "Ponta" in honor of photographer Renato Pontarini and the bridges they are famous for building, Il Globo reports. Researchers, who suspected a new kind of animal was in the area after being alerted to unusual tracks, believe Ponta is the descendant of a group of beavers reintroduced to the Danube region around 30 years ago. (Argentina, meanwhile, says it has far too many beavers.)