Figure 1. A beaver enters the waters of a protected wetland south of Prague (Albeck-Ripka / Bohumil Fišer / Agence France, 2025).

Beavers are the brilliant, buck-toothed builders of the natural world, and their ability to create dams is a powerful driving force in freshwater landscapes across the Northern Hemisphere. The wetlands formed by these dams improve water quality, create habitat for other species, fortify the surrounding area against wildfires, and even fight climate change through their high carbon storage (Rubin-Thomas & Blackledge, 2023). Beavers’ immense influence on the physical and community structure of their habitats has earned them the name “ecosystem engineers,” and in many places, people are taking notice. Though beavers are sometimes seen as nuisances for their tree-felling and field-flooding activities, lately various scientists and land managers have embraced their dual role as architects and core members of healthy wetland ecosystems. Two recent stories show how beavers have been appreciated in different parts of the world and what their presence means for the natural spaces around them. 

Beavers’ work as ecosystem engineers was recently seen in action in the Czech Republic, where it saved the government the equivalent of over 1 million dollars. This occurred 40 miles southwest of Prague on the Klabava River, which currently houses a population of endangered crayfish. For years, conservationists and officials had planned to build dams to protect this vulnerable habitat from acidic, high-sediment spillover from two neighboring ponds (Albeck-Ripka, 2025). The dam project, however, had been delayed since 2018 due to complex land negotiations, bureaucracy, and financial obstacles. Fortunately, a family of local beavers was undeterred by such human matters and opted to just build the much-needed dams themselves. 

Figure 2. The dam built by the beaver family on the Klabava River (Andrei / Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, 2025).

These aquatic rodents’ hard work not only protects the species sharing their habitat but also reverses previous ecological deterioration. The region transformed into wetlands by the dams, Brdy Protected Landscape Area, was previously used as a military training ground; soldiers had originally dug out a bypass gully to drain the area, which harshly impacted ecosystem health (Andrei, 2025). Brdy was declared a protected area in 2015 and military use ceased in 2016, paving the way for future human–and beaver–led improvement (Brdy Protected Landscape Area, 2022). The Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic reported that the wetland formed by the new dams is close to five acres, double the area originally planned, and now houses a thriving, biodiverse community of species (Albeck-Ripka, 2025). According to Bohumil Fišer, head of Brdy Protected Landscape Area, these beavers produced the essential conditions for healthy wetlands “practically overnight” (Andrei, 2025). He estimated the saved cost to be 30 million Czech koruna, equivalent to about 1.2 million euros or 1.3 million dollars, and was optimistic that beavers’ continued presence shouldn’t cause any problems in the future (Eager Beavers, 2025). 

Figure 3. Footage of the rotund beaver and a gnawed piece of wood found near the river (Yassine / Urban Rivers, 2025).

Beavers can even become local celebrities and help raise awareness about efforts to improve their ecosystems. One such mammalian megastar is an individual who recently went viral for being the most “remarkably rotund” beaver in Chicago (Yassine, 2025). First found in February on Bubbly Creek, a southern fork of the Chicago River’s southern branch, this near-spherical rodent captured the hearts of the city after being spotted on wildlife tracking cameras managed by environmental nonprofit Urban Rivers (Yassine, 2025). Sammie Clark, head beaver researcher at Urban Rivers, speculated that this was a pregnant female, but noted that she had been quite round for longer than a beaver pregnancy usually lasts. The organization soon shared a video of this beaver waddling through the snow to the city’s subreddit, posing an important question: what should she be named (UrbanRivers, 2025)? Fans of the charming critter submitted hundreds of names, many of which honor city culture and history, like “Lori Heavyfoot,” “Southside Large Marge,” “Dam Ryan,” “Sufjan Beavens,” and “DuSable Dammer.” Others included “Rotundra,”  “Sigourney Beaver,” and “Beve Irwin.” On March 12th, local musician Al Scorch revealed the winning name at Chicago music venue the Hideout: “Ida Beav Wells” (Liederman & Yassine, 2025)! This pick honors her namesake’s role in city’s history and legacy of Black suffrage and anti-lynching activism (Norwood, 2017). The next day, Urban Rivers announced that two beaver kits assumed to be Ida’s would receive the runner-up names “Chewy Garcia” and “Plumpton Sinclair” (Liederman & Yassine, 2025). 

A friendly, fuzzy face can be a fantastic way to raise interest and awareness in impactful environmental work, and it can often indicate how far that work has come. Since her first appearance, Ida’s popularity has brought more attention to the Chicago River ecosystem and the Urban Rivers organization’s efforts to restore it. The resurgence of beaver populations, as well as minks and a variety of fish species, is a sign that water quality and river habitat integrity have improved since the city’s disastrously polluted, industrial past (Miller & Hernandez, 2025). Bubbly Creek, where Ida Beav Wells was first seen, was originally named due to its proximity to the Union Stock Yards, the powerhouse providing 82% of the nation’s domestic meat production at the turn of the 20th century (McVean, 2021). Stock Yards slaughterhouses essentially used the creek as a sewer, dumping immense amounts of animal waste and offal into the water. Shockingly, the methane and hydrogen sulfide gases released from the decomposing matter caused the stream to bubble like a hot tub! Bubbly Creek was even spotlighted in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (the man, not the beaver): he explained how, in places, “the grease and filth have caked solid” enough for chickens to walk on top, and “many times an unwary stranger has started to stroll across and vanished temporarily” (Sinclair, 1906). 

Though the current creek certainly looks less disgusting than it did in 1905, it is still heavily polluted, making it a prime target for Urban Rivers restoration work (McVean, 2021). In 2022, the nonprofit partnered with the Shedd Aquarium to install 3,000 square feet of floating wetland gardens, which provide crucial habitat for native animal species and filter pollutants through their roots (Bubbly Creek, 2022). Enhancing the creek this way also works to address equitable access to green spaces; disadvantaged communities on the city’s south side have historically lacked opportunities to engage with nature, and they’ve disproportionately borne the brunt of ecological damage and pollution. Along this river, just as resident beavers like Ida sink their teeth into logs, Urban Rivers continues to sink theirs into the necessary work ahead. 

 

Works Cited

Albeck-Ripka, L. (2025, February 12). Czech Dam Project Was Stalled by Bureaucracy. Beavers Built Their Own. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/world/europe/beavers-prague-czech-republic-dam.html 

‌Andrei, M. (2025, February 12). Beavers Built a $1.2M Dam for Free — And Saved a Czech River. ZME Science. https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/beavers-in-the-czech-republic-built-dams-that-saved-authorities-1-25-million/ 

Brdy Protected Landscape Area (2022, July 12). Visit Central Bohemia. https://www.visitcentralbohemia.com/experience/brdy-protected-landscape-area/

Bubbly Creek. (2022). Urban Rivers. https://urbanrivers.org/bubbly-creek

Eager Beavers: Rodents Engineer Czech Wetland Project After Years of Human Delay. (2025, February 11). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/beavers-save-czech-taxpayers-by-flooding-ex-army-training-site

Liederman, M., & Yassine, L. (2025, March 13). Meet Ida Beav Wells, Chicago’s “Remarkably Rotund” Beaver. Block Club Chicago. https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/03/13/meet-ida-beav-wells-chicagos-remarkably-rotund-beaver-has-a-new-name/ 

McVean, A. (2021, February 24). An Environmental Disaster Brought To You By Meat: Chicago’s Bubbly Creek. Office for Science and Society. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-history/environmental-disaster-brought-you-meat-chicagos-bubbly-creek 

Miller, V., & Hernandez, C. (2025, March 13). Bubbly Creek’s famed “rotund” beaver has a new name — Ida Beav Wells. Chicago Sun-Times. https://chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors/2025/03/13/bubbly-creek-beaver-ida-beav-wells-urban-river

Norwood, A. (2017). Ida B. Wells-Barnett. National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett 

‌Rubin-Thomas, C., & Blackledge, S. (2023, April 3). Beavers are “ecosystem engineers” and fight climate change, too. Environment America. https://environmentamerica.org/articles/beavers-are-ecosystem-engineers-and-fight-climate-change-too/

Sinclair, U. (1906). The Jungle. Ten Speed. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/140/pg140-images.html

UrbanRivers. (2025, February 16). This huge Southside beaver needs a name. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/1iqqs3l/this_huge_southside_beaver_needs_a_name/?rdt=40413

Yassine, L. (2025, February 18). A “Remarkably Rotund” Beaver is Making a Splash on The South Side — and She Needs a Name. Block Club Chicago. https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/02/18/a-remarkably-rotund-beaver-is-making-a-splash-on-the-south-side-and-she-needs-a-name/