It is a valuable furbearer, particularly for the paint brush industry.

Coyotes are an important furbearer in the region.

An animal with commercially valuable fur is known within the fur industry as a furbearer.

It is variously classified as a furbearer, small game or predator in state hunting and trapping regulations.

As of 1987, the raccoon was identified as the most important wild furbearer in North America in terms of revenue.

Although a furbearer, the wildcat's skin is of little commercial value, due to the unattractive colour of its natural state, and the difficulties present in dyeing it.

Through research, development, communication and education, the Trap Research and Development Committee ensures that the best possible furbearer capture technology is available to Canadian trappers.

However, improvements in water quality (through enactment of clean water regulations) and furbearer management techniques have permitted river otters to regain portions of their range in many areas.

These studies have shown that regulated trapping is a safe, efficient, and practical means of capturing individual animals without impairing the survival of furbearer populations or damaging the environment.

Because of its coarse and sparse pelage, the striped hyena is not considered a furbearer, with the few skins sold by hunters often being marketed as poor quality dog or wolf fur.

By mid-June, the department had logged 235 bear reports, more than double the number during the same period last year, said Paul Rego, a furbearer program biologist with the D.E.P.

The species has a long history of association with humans, having been extensively hunted as a pest and furbearer for centuries, as well as being prominently represented in human folklore and mythology.

In Canada, black bears are considered as both a big game and furbearer species in all provinces save for New Brunswick and Northwest Territories, where they are only classed as a big game species.

"No one's really sure, but it's believed that beavers will slap their tails on the water as a warning signal to other beavers when something is threatening the colony," said a state wildlife biologist, Paul Rego, head of the furbearer program at the Department of Environmental Protection's wildlife division.