Such is the case with a recently unearthed video from Idaho Fish and Game that shows – and we’re not kidding here – beavers being relocated into the state’s backcounty via parachute. The rangers used surplus World War II parachutes to drop the beavers in to less crowded areas.
Advertisement
Apparently, the historian had spent years searching for the video before finding it mislabeled and in the wrong box. The video is titled Fur the Future.
The minute-long clip that shows the actual beaver drop includes a narrator who says the animals are dropped near a stream or a lake.
In the 1940s, the overpopulation of beavers in a few regions became an irritating problem. And while they identified a largely natural area flawless to re-home the creatures, the spot (the Chamberlain Basin, now known as the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area) was hard to access due to a lack of roads.
In the video the beavers are seen being loaded into chew-resistant willow-wood boxes that were created to open on impact.
After testing a few parachutes drops with dummy weights, he upgraded to a live beaver.
Advertisement
In the introduction, The Idaho Fish and Game Commission calls the “restoration and perpetuation of wildlife within the State of Idaho” an “obligation”. While one of the beavers died on impact, the other 75 settled in the area and established a thriving population.
