The 'parachuting beaver' campaign was unexpectedly successful 70 years ago

In the 1940s, experts used a unique relocation method using planes and parachutes to bring beavers to suitable new homes .

Beavers are animals loved by many of us. Not only are they cute, but they are also diligent in building dams to help keep the ecosystem where they live healthy. Beaver dams help slow the flow of rivers and streams, minimizing soil erosion, and the ponds formed by those dams replenish groundwater supplies. The beaver pond became home to many other animals. And dams act as natural filters for flowing water, improving quality downstream.

But beaver dams can also increase stream temperatures upstream and suck oxygen out of the water over the long term. And beavers can damage crops and home gardens. According to National Geographic, that was the main complaint of families moving from big cities to southwest Idaho in the years immediately following World War II.

Methods of relocating beavers by plane and parachute. (Video: Time).

As Americans moved away from cities and deeper into the wilderness, the Idaho Department of Fish and Wildlife (IFG) realized the beaver problem it had been trying to tackle since the 1930s would get worse. than. However, culling beavers is not a popular option because they provide valuable ecosystem "services" , creating an environment that enhances water quality and biodiversity, while reducing risk of erosion. Therefore, they need relocation methods to address the overcrowding of beavers in some areas, moving them to more suitable habitats.

Central Idaho holds a protected area, the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area . In that area is the Chamberlain Basin, a place with many forests and a prominent creek. It seemed like the ideal place to relocate beavers. However, the question now is how to get them there?

"Conventional transportation in this case would be very expensive," Fish and Game Department employee Elmo W. Heter wrote in an article in the Journal of Wildlife Management. arduous, with long odds and leading to a high death rate". Some factors that influence beaver mortality on such trips include : the smell of beavers bothers the horses responsible for carrying them; Capturing and transporting can upset many beavers, causing them to become aggressive; Beavers have poor heat tolerance when out of water; The stress of temperature and travel is so severe that some beavers stop eating after a while.

 Beavers can damage crops and home gardens.

After writing about the problems with beaver transportation, Elmo W. Heter set out to find a better way. It occurred to him that it would be best to move them in mid-summer ; Their migration season is over and they will have time to adapt to their new home. And he knows from previous relocation efforts that it's better to move young beavers, ideally four at a time with one male and three females or two males, two females. But the question remains: how will beavers move?

In a 1950 document titled "Relocating Beavers by Airplane and Parachute ," Elmo Heter, an employee at IFG, explained why more traditional relocation methods failed. Heter describes these methods as arduous, time-consuming and expensive, with a high death rate for beavers.

For example, after being loaded onto horseback, beavers were exposed to direct heat from the Sun for many days, making them unable to eat or drink, becoming increasingly aggressive and many losing their lives. "Clearly a faster, cheaper and safer mode of transportation is essential. The use of airplanes and parachutes meets that requirement," he wrote.

Before releasing the beavers, IFG experimented with heavy objects to determine that the 7-meter rayon parachute used in World War II was most suitable. Pairs of beavers are placed in boxes and transported by a single parachute. The benefit of this method is that it reduces the number of parachutes by half, while also reducing the likelihood of beavers leaving the landing area as having a companion seems to encourage them to stay.

Pairs of beavers are placed in boxes and transported by a single parachute.

"An old male beaver that we lovingly named Geronimo crashed several times in the take-off area. Every time he climbed out of the box, someone came to catch him. He eventually became resigned. and as soon as we got close, it crawled back into its box and was ready to fly again ," Heter wrote.

"Geronimo had priority on the first trip to the new land, and three young females went with him. Even on arrival, he remained in the box for a long time while the females were busy exploring However, its group was later reported to be doing very well ," he added.

Geronimo's first flight paved the way for 76 other beavers in the fall of 1948, of which there was only one fatality, most likely due to the beaver's own error. After being dropped, a loose cable created a small gap in the box, enough for the beaver to poke its head out and crawl to the top. According to Heter, if the animal had stayed in place, everything would have been fine, but for some reason, when 23 meters above the ground, it jumped or fell out of the box.

Experts then analyzed the method of releasing beavers by parachute and found that this method was cheaper than the old method by about $16 per beaver, while also reducing the number of dead beavers and the number of labor hours needed to carry out the operation. show itinerary.