Sunday, February 25, 2007

Beaver seen near New York City

Just read that a beaver was seen swimming up the Bronx River near New York City, the first time a beaver has been seen in the area for about two centuries.

A beaver specialist stated that beaver populations are expanding, but their habitat is shrinking, so it isn't too big a surprise. Most people probably didn't think that this could happen in a heavily developped area and non-pristine river.

The first thing that came to my mind is that you can never count wildlife out, that a species will find a way to persist if at all possible. Efforts have been underway to clean up the Bronx River, and this should give even more incentive. It also made me think of the mountain caribou populations in Southern BC, and how the herds are shrinking. Will they be able to persist like the beaver, and what can be done to help them?

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