Trying to maintain his balance on a dam, Canadian trapper Ray Gall advances cautiously as he tries to retrieve a large black beaver snared in one of his traps.

Few people in the country still manage to make a living solely in the business, which dates back 400 years to the first Indigenous trades of pelts to European explorers.

But thousands of Canadians, including Indigenous people, are still active in the now heavily-regulated industry.

“It’s the oldest profession” in Canada, says Gall, 47, a municipal water worker who traps, foxes, wolves and coyotes in his spare time in forests about a three-hour drive north of Toronto.

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