Beavers always know best. The places where they build dams are always chosen just right – better than when we design it on paper,” said Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency
By Roger Childs
Great teeth!
A beaver colony in Czechia’s Brdy region has gained overnight fame by building several dams in the Brdy protected landscape area, creating a natural wetland exactly where it was needed. It saved the local authorities 30 million koruna. ($US 1.2 million)
We share the planet with a huge range of animal life and there are plenty of amazing beasts out there. Some have a close symbiotic relations with humans and the chisel-toothed beavers are a great example. They can fell trees as large as those a person can just hug at full stretch.
They have long chisel-like incisors to do their lodge and dam building. This engineering also includes branches, other vegetation, rock and mud as well as tree trunks.
Unique animals with a long history
There are two species on beaver – Eurasian and North American, and they have evolved over tens of thousands of years. They are semi-aquatic herbivores and live in monogamous relationships. Like so many animals with useful resource value for humans, they have been hunted for their fur and meat, and castoreum which is used in food flavouring, medicine and perfume. Over a hundred years ago the fur was fashionable as a material for making hats.
They were almost exterminated in the early 20th century but fortunately escaped extinction. As herbivores they eat tree bark, aquatic plants, sedges and grasses. They are the second largest rodent on the planet and can weigh up to 50kg,
Transforming the environment
… few can beat beavers in helping bring landscapes to life. –Richard Benwell
Beavers are ecosystem engineers and their dams can stretch for kilometres. The largest created is found in Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park and can be seen from space. In Oregon it has been discovered that their dams can filter out heavy metals and other pollutants.
Last month the British government agreed to allow beavers to be released into English waterways. Until 20 years ago they had be extinct in Britain for 400 years.
In 2023 California set up a beaver-assisted restoration programme so they could create a healthy environment for other animals, replenish ground water supplies and apparently provide wildfire protection.
We could do with some in New Zealand, perhaps starting with the Wharemauku Stream in Paraparaumu.