She’s like a toddler with a huge personality – screaming or slapping her tail until she gets what she wants.
“The first month is like having a newborn,” said Ralee Barth, director of operations at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation.
“They want things, but you don’t know what they want and you want her to eat because you know she must be hungry, but she won’t take anything from you – they can’t tell you. There were definitely tears sometimes when she just wasn’t eating.
But this is no ordinary family member. It’s a baby beaver, brought to the Wildlife Center in Madden, Alberta, in the spring of 2024, after being rescued near Edmonton.
“A member of the public had found her after she had been kicked out of her home by her family,” Barth said.
“They looked at it for a bit and once it was confirmed that they didn’t take it back, they came in and rescued it and transferred it to us.”
The Baby Beaver was brought to the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation near Calgary in the spring of 2024 after being rejected by his family near Edmonton.
Courtesy: AIWC
Diagnosed with gastrointestinal issues, AIWC staff had to nurse her back to health.
“So adopting a beaver is so different from taking anything else,” Barth said.
“They have a lot of really special requirements from their diet to how they go to the bathroom to what they need – so when she first came in, she had to be formula fed about five or six times a day .”
But Beab Beavers aren’t like the other animals the Wildlife Center saves.
Ralee Barth, AIWC operations manager, says Beab Beavers are different from other animals they have rescued because they must develop a strong bond with a family unit — in this case, a few staff members.
Courtesy: AIWC
Animals like bears must be prevented from becoming too accustomed to humans – beavers on the other hand must be bonded closely with a family unit.
“So me and one of our other staff members become his primary caregivers,” Barth said. “We raised her for the first piece of our house, swam in our bathtub, so she felt like we were her family. And then once she really bonded with us, we started bringing her into the clinic setting. »
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In an effort to keep the bond between the staff and the beaver from becoming too strong, she was not given a name.
But it’s always exciting to watch her grow and reach, as Barth described them, her beaver milestones.
“Like the first time, she started chewing on a branch. She dove underwater and swam.
“We were just screaming with excitement.”
AIWC staff say watching Baby Beaver grow and experience events like his first swim or chew his first stick has been very exciting and rewarding.
Courtesy: AIWC
“His personality is huge,” Barth said.
“If you give her a snack or her breakfast and it’s not exactly what she wants, she’ll scream or the tail will slap, or you’ll bring her dinner and she goes and she picks it and takes it away It’s the best treats first and she finally eats the good things for her later.
“She is so incredibly clumsy, like watching a toddler learn to do everything – she will walk and then fall. Or she’ll take these sticks that are like 83 times bigger than her. »
The young beaver, seen practicing her construction skills at the AIWC, will eventually be released into the wild – probably in spring 2026.
Courtesy: AIWC
The goal is to eventually release her into the wild – probably in spring 2026 – because Beab Beavers normally spend about two years with their parents.
But she must be ready, showing signs of wanting to venture out on her own and able to find her own food.
It must also be the right place.
“Freeing Beavers is not like freeing anything else,” Barth said.
“They are extremely territorial, so if there is already a beaver established there, that would be really dangerous for her. But we also don’t want to just release it into a random body of water where it’s going to start taking on song and create problems in the environment. »
Barth says that while it’s still so hard for the staff, the release is also the most rewarding.
In the interest of preventing the beaver from becoming too accustomed to humans, it was only allowed to bond with two of the AIWC staff members.
Courtesy: AIWC
“You know, we spend a lot of time with these animals, even if it’s from afar – we spend so much time with them. Beaver is unique in that we spend a lot more time than we typically would,” Barth said.
“But seeing myself return to nature, seeing how hard work pays off is unlike anything I know how to explain. It’s absolutely incredible.
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