After plans stalled for a new dam in the Czech Republic, eight beavers saved the day seemingly overnight.
Officials in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic were at an impasse, reports NatGeo. Despite securing more than one million dollars’ worth of funding for a new dam to address water issues, the project had stalled after seven years of planning because the necessary building permits for such a structure couldn’t be acquired.
But then, everyone woke up one morning in January to find that the job had been completed - by eight beavers. For free.
Speaking to Radio Prague, Jaroslav Obermajer, head of the Central Bohemian office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency, said: “Beavers always know best.”
The human project had aimed to restore the area to its natural state, decades after soldiers at a military base built a bypass gully which had drained the area. According to the Brdy Protected Land Administration (PLA), which was managing the human project, the beavers constructed dams in almost the same spots that constructions were planned.
“The beavers beat them to it, saving us CZK 30 million ($1.2m),” said Bohumil Fišer, the Brdy PlA chief. “They built the dams without any project documentation and for free.”
Mr Obermajor added: “The places where they build dams are always chosen just right - better than when we design it on paper.”
Ecologists tasked with inspecting the dams have said they will last a long time and create good conditions for the rare stone crayfish, frogs, and other species that thrive on wetlands.
“We are already seeing the emergence of a small pond and surrounding wetland there,” the PLA said in a statement, adding that the eight beavers were still hard at work creating new wetlands.