Close X
Sunday, October 6, 2024
ADVT 
National

Beavers Calling Vancouver Home, Numbers Up Across The Country: Biologist

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Feb, 2016 01:23 PM
  • Beavers Calling Vancouver Home, Numbers Up Across The Country: Biologist
VANCOUVER — A pair of buck-toothed homemakers is having more luck than most getting a toehold in Vancouver's red-hot real-estate market after snagging an enviable piece of waterfront property.
 
A beaver couple has bid adieu to the bucolic marshes of British Columbia's hinterland and taken up residence in the heart of the city's bustling downtown.
 
The iconic Canadian duo built a lodge late last year along the city's picturesque False Creek in a restored marshland abutting the city's Olympic Village — a residential neighbourhood of gleaming metal and glass apartment complexes built for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
 
Now the pair may find themselves welcoming new neighbours across the city following a resolution passed by the Vancouver Park Board.
 
The board has voted in favour of restoring or enhancing 12 hectares of natural land throughout Vancouver by 2020, in addition to the 13 hectares already restored, in order to allow for novel habitats for fish, birds, plants and mammals.
 
The plan is part of the board's new biodiversity strategy.
 
"It's amazing when you have the opportunity to hear songbirds in the city, to go fishing for crabs at Jericho Park, catch a glimpse of a river otter at Lost Lagoon or see a beaver right here behind me at Hinge Creek," said Park Board Chair Sarah Kirby-Yung during a news conference Tuesday at Olympic Village.
 
"These sightings provide an increasingly rare opportunity to see nature in a very rapidly urbanizing environment."
 
Several dozen beavers are believed to be living in Vancouver.
 
Elsewhere in Canada's big cities, Calgary's verdant Elbow and Bow rivers offer prime habitat to approximately 200 beavers.
 
Tanya Hope, a parks ecologist with the City of Calgary, said that while the animals can sometimes prove a nuisance, they also serve a useful role by mitigating flood damage with their dams and removing invasive tree species.
 
"We're trying to coexist with them," she said.
 
"We know that they're there and we know that they're working so we're going to hopefully have them work for us instead of working at cross purposes with each other."
 
During Alberta's devastating flooding of 2013, a beaver dam on Prince's Island Park saved a storm-water pond that otherwise would have been swept away, Hope said.
 
Winnipeg has about 100 beavers within its city limits and, like most other jurisdictions, manages the loss of vegetation by wrapping trunks with protective wire.
 
The City of Toronto doesn't keep track of its urban beaver population, but a city guide to its mammals says the aquatic animal is commonly seen along the shoreline of Lake Ontario and throughout the city's streams and corridors.
 
The animal is North America's largest rodent and a lone beaver can fell more than 200 trees a year, making them a formidable influence on waterfront flora.
 
Vancouver's city biologist Nick Page said an increase in beaver numbers is being felt across the country and that a decline in trapping is to blame.
 
"It's less about habitat and more about trapping," Page said. "Historically, beavers were what drove the fur trade."

MORE National ARTICLES

Winnipeg Hotel Undergoing Renovation Gives Beds, Mattresses, Sofas To Syrian Refugees

Winnipeg Hotel Undergoing Renovation Gives Beds, Mattresses, Sofas To Syrian Refugees
John Saad, general manager of Place Louis Riel Suite Hotel, says they could have sold the items to another hotel chain.

Winnipeg Hotel Undergoing Renovation Gives Beds, Mattresses, Sofas To Syrian Refugees

Justin Trudeau's Message At World Economic Forum: Canada Open For Business, Investment

Justin Trudeau's Message At World Economic Forum: Canada Open For Business, Investment
That's the message Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered when he made his entrance at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum as part of his goal to rebrand Canada on the world stage.

Justin Trudeau's Message At World Economic Forum: Canada Open For Business, Investment

Montreal Factory Gives Syrian Refugees Jobs, French Classes, Tips To Integrate

Montreal Factory Gives Syrian Refugees Jobs, French Classes, Tips To Integrate
When Syrian refugee Garouj Nazarian is asked how he likes working for his boss, the answer comes in choppy English — but the sentiment shines through.

Montreal Factory Gives Syrian Refugees Jobs, French Classes, Tips To Integrate

'Thanking Our Lucky Stars:' Canadian Resort Real Estate Loves High U.S. Dollar

'Thanking Our Lucky Stars:' Canadian Resort Real Estate Loves High U.S. Dollar
Realtors who sell Canadian resort properties say the low loonie is spurring interest from American buyers who are looking to pick up cheap vacation homes north of the border.

'Thanking Our Lucky Stars:' Canadian Resort Real Estate Loves High U.S. Dollar

Star RCMP Puppy In Training Dies After Eating Rope And Rocks In Nova Scotia

Star RCMP Puppy In Training Dies After Eating Rope And Rocks In Nova Scotia
An RCMP news release said Reid was saddened by the loss, and noted that condolences can be shared on the force's Facebook page in Nova Scotia and on Twitter using the hashtag RIPHelo.

Star RCMP Puppy In Training Dies After Eating Rope And Rocks In Nova Scotia

2 Men Charged In Seizure Of 300 Kg Contraband Shisha Tobacco At Edmonton Convenience Store

2 Men Charged In Seizure Of 300 Kg Contraband Shisha Tobacco At Edmonton Convenience Store
Two men have been charged in the seizure of more than 300 kilograms of contraband shisha tobacco, contraband cigarettes, and flavoured cigars at a convenience store in Edmonton.

2 Men Charged In Seizure Of 300 Kg Contraband Shisha Tobacco At Edmonton Convenience Store