Image Credit: CFJC Today / Jill Sperling

By Jill Sperling

Meet Alder and Willow

BC Wildlife Park rehabilitating two juvenile beavers

Sep 16, 2020 | 4:57 PM

KAMLOOPS — A pair of juvenile beavers are rehabilitating at the Wildlife Health Centre located at the BC Wildlife Park.

Alder and Willow share a special bond, but they came to the centre separately.

“Alder was first and he came at the end of May,” said Animal Care Supervisor Tracy Reynolds. “He was found just wandering down a main street in the Coldstream area. I think at that time we had a lot of flooding and they must have been flushed — something happened with their home — and they were flushed downstream and he was orphaned.”

Willow was found in the Kelowna area a few weeks later.

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“They’re both from very similar areas,” Reynolds said. “We will keep them together, which is nice to have the two — they’re quite bonded as you can see now. Our plan is to ultimately release them together.”

The beavers are a similar age, but had very different experiences when they arrived at the Fawcett Familly Wildlife Health Centre.

“Alder was pretty independent right to start,” Reynolds said. “He took onto eating solid foods right away and was pretty easy as far as it goes that way and Willow was a little bit more difficult. She didn’t want to wean. She didn’t want to eat. We try to be as hands-off as we can, because we want to keep them wild, because obviously, we want to release them, but she was a little bit more difficult.”

Beavers normally spend two years with their families before they can be independent, which means they will remain at the BC Wildlife Park for two years before they are released.

“The behaviours we’re kind of looking for now, we’re offering them lots of wood, they’re starting to chew on the bark, they’re eating the wood, and what we want to start seeing now is them sort of chewing up that wood into lengths like a beaver would,” Reynolds said.

In order to keep Alder and Willow as wild as possible, the beavers will remain out of sight from the general public.

“Next year we’re hoping to put them in this enclosure which we have been renovating, this is an old part of the zoo,” Reynolds said pointing out an empty enclosure. “I can’t tell you what was in here originally, maybe somebody out there knows and can let us know what this was built for, but this was an aquatic habitat at some point and we’re thinking this would be an ideal habitat for beavers and otters and things like that that we get into rehab.”

Reynolds says if people want to help out, monetary donations would be appreciated.