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See also: Species Guides for more resources

See also: Six Species of Concern for more fact sheets

The Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project (CBNEP) announced at an event at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge today that Maryland is now free of the exotic, invasive nutria. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services (WS), and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have worked more than 20 years to make this difficult task -- never accomplished before on this scale -- a success.

Landowners, we need your help: CDFW has deployed nutria survey teams from the Delta through the San Joaquin Valley and needs written access permissions to enter or cross private properties for the purposes of conducting nutria surveys and, where detected, implementing trapping efforts. Landowners and tenants, see Nutria: The Triple Threat to California's Future [PDF, 598 KB]; so CDFW can survey for and remove destructive nutria from your properties, complete and submit the Nutria Project Temporary Entry Permit [PDF, 207 KB].

Provides state, county, point and GIS data. Maps can be downloaded and shared.

The nutria (Myocastor coypus), a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America, was originally brought to the United States in 1889 for its fur. When the nutria fur market collapsed in the 1940s, thousands of nutria escaped or were released into the wild by ranchers who could no longer afford to feed and house them. While nutria devour weeds and overabundant vegetation, they also destroy native aquatic vegetation, crops, and wetland areas. Recognized in the United States as an invasive wildlife species, nutria have been found in at least 20 States and most recently in California. The nutria’s relatively high reproductive rate, combined with a lack of population controls, helped the species to spread.

The Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project (CBNEP) historically used working dogs to locate invasive nutria populations across the Delmarva Peninsula. As nutria populations decreased, the transition to detection and detector dogs was necessary. Dogs can be trained to smell the evidence of specific animals and plants in an area without visual identification.  

Provides distribution maps and collection information (State and County).

Provides detailed collection information as well as animated map.

Provides overview of former project to protect and conserve communities of the Delmarva Peninsula (Chesapeake Bay region).