Imported Beavers Destroying South American Forests

South American trees have not evolved to be able to recover from damage inflicted by beavers.

An international conservation group is calling for the widespread killing of non-native beavers in southern Chile and Argentina to save some of the planet’s rarest forests.

Fifty North American beavers were introduced to Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America, in 1949 to establish a fur trade.

Some migrated across the Magellan Strait, and have since multiplied on the mainland to more than 100,000.

Advanced Conservation Strategies, in a report commissioned by the two affected countries, says the animals lay waste to millions of acres of trees along rivers, leaving behind something that “looks as if bulldozers have been let loose.”

The group says the region’s trees evolved without the presence of beavers, and do not recover after being gnawed down by the animals.

The report recommends using helicopters carrying teams of trappers and hunters, accompanied by dogs, to eliminate the foreign beaver population.

If adopted, the scheme would be the largest eradication project ever attempted by conservationists.

Photo: iStockphoto
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