The animal has been spotted in Pärnu Vallikäär, a park in the center of Pärnu, and has no issue with people photographing or filming it.

The Environmental Board (Keskonnaamet) said that the beaver may well be a younger animal which has only recently left the nest, and is likely roaming around searching for a mate and a place to inhabit.

Tõnu Talvi, chief nature conservation specialist at the Environmental Board told ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK): "We don't know exactly where it came from, but they tend to traverse along various flowing bodies of water; small rivers, ditches, streams etc. and also along the brackish coastal waters.

"So, it could have come from anywhere that had a connection to that moat," referring to the Vallikäär park, whose name derives from the Estonian word for moat.

Talvi added that it is not unheard of for younger beavers to seek out their own habitat once becoming independent, though in urban environments, this might clash with human activity.

"The most relevant question right now is whose sense of security and perhaps, as it were, common sense and reason will hold up better in this potential standoff: Humans', or the beaver's?"

"Whether this will resolve itself peaceably, with the animal finding a more suitable and safer habitat elsewhere in which to mate, or if will stay and then likely some action will have to be taken," remains to be seen, he added.

City authorities are already aware of their new resident aquatic rodent and are taking humane steps to induce it to move on.

Kadri Kõresaar, Pärnu's chief specialist for the environment and public utilities, told AK: "As a preventative measure, we will start meshing the trees on the bank here, to render the beaver's food sources a bit scarcer, then we will see what follows."

This is not the first time the city government has had to deal with a beaver, Kõresaar said.

"Back in 2008, we experienced the exact same situation when either a beaver or an entire family of beavers felled quite a lot of trees. After the reconstruction of Vallikäär in 2010, however, beavers had not been seen in this area any more," Kõresaar said. Until now, that is.

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is resident year-round in Estonia, and may or may not be the culprit in the odd, loud splash you can sometimes here when out and about near streams and rivers in rural areas. It is a separate species from the more well-known North American beaver (Castor canadensis).

The original AK segment which includes footage of Pärnu's celebrity beaver is here.

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