In Europe, Humans Planned a Dam, but Beavers Built it First

by Abigail Gezae, age 13

Beavers are interesting animals and very useful; they have saved the Czech Republic taxpayers a lot of money.

The Czech Republic wanted to build a dam to protect the Klabava River south of Prague. The dam site was formerly used as a military training ground. This project had been delayed for years.

Then, beavers in the area started working on the dam themselves before Czech officials had a chance. With the rodent’s engineering skills and work ethic, they quickly built and finished it. The new wetlands created by the dam covered about five acres, which was much larger than officials had anticipated.

The beavers, which weigh around 40 to 80 pounds, engineered this dam by piling stones and branches across the river and continuing that process until a pond was formed. By creating a dam the beavers saved the authorities around 1.2 million euros.

Beavers are motivated by a fear of predators. When beavers are on land, they awkwardly waddle, making them easy prey. Beavers are safer in the water; they are amazing swimmers and can stay underwater for about 15 minutes. This helps with the process of dam building and keeping away from their predators.

This is not the first time these rodents have built a dam, but it may be one of the first times they replaced a human-planned dam. Beavers are intelligent animals. It is incredible that these beavers created a dam by themselves. Beaver dams are a natural part of the landscape, and are important for healthy wetlands.

[Sources: The New York Times; The Guardian; Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic]