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Beavers are the largest rodent in North America and second in the world (after the capybara).
Through building, dams beavers are ecosystem engineers. They raise water levels, slow water speed and change water direction. As a result, water availability for wildlife and humans increases, biodiversity improves, habitats for imperiled animals are restored, cleaner water is provided, wildfire hazards are reduced and flash flood damage is mitigated.
Why are beavers imperiled?
Beavers used to live in almost every perennial (year-round) stream in North America and numbered in the many millions.
But as demand for their fur skyrocketed between American colonization and the early 20th century, they were trapped almost to extinction. Despite reintroductions and natural expansion, beavers have yet to return to many places where they used to live, and these areas could use a lot more beavers to restore ecosystem function.
Beavers are threatened by habitat loss and conflict with humans.
Defenders' Impact
When beavers reestablish in suitable habitat, they often come into conflict with humans. However, simple beaver coexistence devices are effective at eliminating this conflict. Defenders of Wildlife helps cover beaver coexistence costs for landowners by installing pond leveling devices, culvert protection fences, tree-fencing and more. Learn more in our Bothered by Beavers brochure!
We also give talks and collaborate with local watershed groups, other environmental groups and NGOs, and state agencies - to help restore freshwater ecosystems by using beavers as a restoration tool.
In many parts of the U.S., beaver habitat is now too degraded by human activities to support beavers. Low-tech process-based restoration is an effective and cost-efficient way to restore beaver habitat. Defenders conducts watershed-scale low-tech process-based restoration to help beaver recolonize as many parts of their former range as possible.
What You Can Do
If you live in beaver habitat, practice proven coexistence techniques. Limit pesticide use and runoff into waterways and wetlands. Spread the word on how important beavers are and how to share the landscape with them.
About
Beavers are present across North America in areas with ponds, lakes, streams and rivers.
Today there are about 10–15 million in North America.
Beavers are territorial, with a territory size of ten acres for one beaver pair and their young, called kits. Beavers cut down trees and shrubs within their territory for food, as well as construction of dams and lodges. Many times, instead of building a lodge, beaver families create a bank den by burrowing into riverbanks.
Beavers are monogamous. Kits stay with their parents for up to two years, after which they disperse to find their own partner and territory. One-year-old kits help raise their younger siblings before dispersing.
Mating Season: December to May, peaking in January
Gestation: average 128 days
Litter size: 2 to 5 kits
Beavers are vegetarians and eat mostly bark and cambium (the soft tissue under the bark). They also eat water plants, roots and buds.
Featured
Bothered by Beavers?
Sometimes, a beaver’s actions come in conflict with human use of a landscape. Fortunately, there are solutions.
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