By Damien Gayle PUBLISHED: 10:49 EST, 9 April 2013 | UPDATED: 11:17 EST, 9 April 2013 It looks as though a lumberjack got halfway through chopping down this tree and just gave up. But in fact the damage to this German birch has been caused by beavers. The large, flat-tailed, semi-aquatic rodents are more usually associated with North America after the European variety was practically hunted to extinction. Timber! A birch gnawed by beavers stands near Lengenwang, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The animals, once hunted to near extinction in Europe, have been reintroduced to the area In Germany since 1979, however, there has been a programme to reintroduce the animals - resulting in the horrendous damage to this birch in Bavaria's Legenwang municipality.
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Beavers were once hunted almost to extinction in Europe for their fur
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The damage to this tree comes after they were reintroduced to Bavaria
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Resettlement efforts are also taking place in the UK
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Beavers' extraordinary constructions are beneficial to woodland habitats
raise the water table, according to @placeholder: Wetlands & Wildlife.