Building a Future with Beavers: Where Rehabilitation Meets Conservation

Last summer, a young beaver we cared for at Calgary Wildlife was released into Screwdriver Creek in Beaver Mines, a waterway that hadn’t seen beaver activity for more than 30 years. One year later, our team returned to find fresh dams, widened channels, and water flowing again through a once-degraded system — a reminder of what can happen when rehabilitation meets restoration ecology. You can read her full journey in our Beaver Mines story here.

Success like this isn’t accidental. It comes from specialized facilities, experienced staff, and an approach that blends veterinary care with ecological understanding.

A beaver seen resting in an enclosure at Calgary Wildlife. This beaver would go on to be released at Beaver Mines, sparking ecological renewal.

Specialized Training, Specialized Care

Many of our staff have trained and worked in facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) or Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA). These organizations set the benchmark for animal welfare, veterinary oversight, conservation, and education across North America, requiring rigorous standards that are reviewed and upheld through regular audits. The skills and knowledge gained in these environments, from advanced husbandry techniques to ethical care practices, now shape how our team approaches rehabilitation. That background ensures the animals at Calgary Wildlife receive the same high standard of care expected at leading zoological institutions.

A beaver kit undergoing a medical examination. Photo courtesy of Andrea Hunt.

Our program is led by Melanie Whalen, Calgary Wildlife’s Director of Wildlife Care and Services, who is also one of the only certified Beaver Wetland Specialists in Alberta. This certification, earned through the Beaver Institute’s BeaverCorps program, provides advanced training in beaver behaviour, wetland ecology, and non-lethal management. That knowledge directly informs how we design enclosures, prepare diets, and plan releases, ensuring that every aspect of care reflects not only the medical needs of a patient but also the ecological role it will return to.

Release-Ready Beavers by Design

Everything begins with the water. Beavers drink where they swim, so enclosures need regular water changes to stay clean and safe. In tanks without filtration, the water is replaced daily. Where a filtered flow system is in place, a complete exchange is done weekly. 

Early water training begins in a safe, shallow pool where beaver kits gain confidence before moving into deeper habitats, and a simple wading pool is just right for the job. Photo courtesy of Andrea Hunt.

Diet is the next critical piece. Beavers are strict herbivores, and the wrong foods can quickly cause digestive issues. To mirror their natural diet as closely as possible, roughly ninety percent of what we feed is what they would forage in the wild, ensuring that our beaver patients are not only nourished, but also practicing the chewing, stripping, and handling behaviours they will rely on once released. Willow cut from our on-site grove provides a daily staple, supplemented with aquatic plants collected locally to mimic what they would pull from ponds and streams. During the growing season, staff harvest and prepare large quantities of browse, freezing it for winter so patients have access to seasonally appropriate foods year-round. This mirrors what beavers do in the wild, storing branches underwater near their lodges so they can feed on them throughout the frozen months.

Crunch, munch, repeat. Fresh browse are a beaver’s favourite, keeping their teeth strong and their digestion on track.

Housing is designed with the same philosophy in mind: every feature should encourage natural behaviour. Constant natural enrichment keeps patients active and engaged. Our enclosures are set up with lodge frames and piles of materials that invite beavers to experiment with lodge-building and damming. Rather than simply providing shelter, we give them the opportunity to practice engineering — dragging branches, piling mud, and reshaping their environment. Pools are included not just for swimming, but for diving, conditioning, and building the strength they’ll need to hold their breath, navigate currents, and evade predators in the wild. One of our larger enclosures even includes a running stream and a deep pool, giving beavers the chance to experience flowing water and practice the behaviours they’ll need when they return to a natural river system.

As animals mature, their space changes with them. Young kits may begin in smaller, carefully controlled enclosures that prioritize warmth and close monitoring, while older juveniles graduate to larger, more complex habitats that replicate the structure and activity of a natural pond. This staged approach mirrors the developmental process they would experience in the wild: from dependent kits nurtured in the safety of a lodge, to independent young beavers venturing further afield, testing their skills in deeper water and more dynamic environments. In every stage, our goal is to align rehabilitation with the ecological life history of the species.

In care, beavers dine on browse and practice natural behaviours — the frame above this beaver is designed to let them build and shape their own lodge.

For orphaned kits, survival skills don’t come automatically. In the wild, parents would teach their young to swim, cut saplings, haul branches, and build lodges. At Calgary Wildlife, staff step into that role, introducing kits to the water, guiding them as they learn to paddle and dive, and walking them to stands of aspen to practice chewing and carrying branches. These experiences are not only physical training but also lessons in how to be a beaver, ensuring that animals raised in care develop the behaviours their wild counterparts would.

When patient numbers allow, social housing with other beavers replaces human contact as they grow, helping reduce habituation. Our facility can actively rehabilitate four to six beavers at a time and can hold family groups for temporary projects when needed. Beavers are strongly social, and forming bonds with their own kind is essential for survival. Sharing space with other kits lets them practice vocalizations, grooming, and cooperative building, the foundation for the family life that defines beaver colonies. Encouraging these connections early gives orphaned animals the best chance of integrating into a wild population.

Every big engineer starts small. This young beaver is syringe-fed formula before it can move on to twigs, leaves, and aquatic plants.

Restoring Ecosystems, Reducing Conflict

In Alberta, relocating beavers is generally prohibited, even when it could benefit both the animals and the landscapes they transform. In general, the only exception comes when a patient has been through rehabilitation and cannot safely be returned to the place where it was found. Our release at Beaver Mines was one of those rare cases, and it showed just how powerful a single beaver can be in restoring an ecosystem.

In other provinces, relocation is permitted and has become an important conservation tool. We have been consulted by governments, universities, and wildlife organizations inside and outside of Alberta to share our expertise, from medical care to enclosure design and release planning. In British Columbia, for example, we’ve advised on projects where nuisance beavers were moved to new habitats to help re-establish populations and restore wetlands. We have also collaborated with other rehabilitation centres, supporting them in building beaver programs, refining care, and assessing release sites. Some of these projects we have consulted on have already shown success, with relocated beavers still established years later, maintaining lodges and dams. These outcomes highlight the role beavers can play when given the opportunity: easing conflict in one place while breathing new life into another.

A thriving beaver wetland. By slowing water and spreading it across the landscape, beavers create rich habitats that support fish, amphibians, birds, and countless invertebrates, while also improving water quality and resilience against drought and fire.

Some of the same traits that make beavers so valuable to ecosystems are also what can bring them into conflict with people. As ecosystem engineers, they reshape landscapes on a scale few other species can match. Their dams slow water, create wetlands, and provide habitat for fish, amphibians, birds, and countless invertebrates. They recharge groundwater, improve water quality, and even act as natural firebreaks during dry years. But that same engineering can sometimes flood roads, plug culverts, or topple trees that landowners value.

When conflicts arise, lethal removal is often seen as the simplest solution, yet it erases all of the ecological benefits beavers bring. That’s why Calgary Wildlife advocates for non-lethal management strategies that allow people and beavers to coexist. Tools such as pond levellers to stabilize water levels, protective wraps for trees, and culvert exclusion devices can resolve most issues without removing the animals. These approaches preserve the ecological gains while addressing the practical concerns of landowners and municipalities.

Our success is measured not just in patient releases, but in the ripple effects those animals create: a culvert that keeps flowing after heavy rain, a wetland holding water through a dry summer, a young beaver that grows into the role of ecosystem engineer. By combining veterinary care, species-specific husbandry, and deep ecological knowledge, Calgary Wildlife is preparing every patient not just to survive — but to reshape and restore the landscapes they call home.

Whether consulting on relocation projects across Canada or watching a young patient transform Beaver Mines Creek, Calgary Wildlife has shown what’s possible when compassionate veterinary care meets expert ecological knowledge. We are proud to stand at the forefront of beaver rehabilitation and ready to keep leading the way for Calgary and beyond. 

Support A Patient

For assistance with injured and orphaned wildlife, please contact the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society at 403-214-1312.

An adorable beaver kit snuggles into a blanket to stay warm.