Mystery Beavers To Get New Home

Nationwide Attention Continues To Help Beaver Family

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The once-condemned beaver family near Bakersfield’s Park at Riverwalk have yet to be seen, but will soon have a new home.You may recall there was public outcry and nationwide attention when the city got a permit to kill the beavers for gnawing on and tearing down trees.

CNN.com linked up to the original story, providing the high Internet traffic needed to spread the word both nationally and internationally, about the plight of the beavers who made a home near a popular bike path in Bakersfield, Calif.

The supervisor for Bakersfield Parks & Recreation told ABC23 they have wrapped 20 trees to protect them from beavers. But he said no one has seen the beavers.Now the city is trying to relocate the beavers. For now the beaver family is still living in a drainage ditch along the Kern Recreational Bike Path. So far no more trees have been damaged.

The city has identified an area to relocate the beavers in Tehachapi and the city is working with the Department of Fish and Game to get approval. Once the site is approved, city officials said an expert trapper will catch the beavers and relocate them unharmed. He also said the traps that were set by the Department of Fish and Game were pulled up empty after the city revoked its permit to destroy the animals.

Though yet to be seen, Nick Belardes from KERO 23 has been searching for the beavers. You can read about his quest and watch video clips on his Save The Kern River Beavers blog.

–mko

The Kern River Beaver Family who were sentenced to death earlier today by Bakersfield, California wildlife officials, have been saved. Read the update by area news station Kero 23:

City Leaders Decide To Save Pesky Beaver Family

Beaver Said To Be Gnawing Down Too Many Trees

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A local beaver family who is making a mess of trees near the Kern Recreational Bike Path has been saved after a surge of response via email, blog comments, phone calls and more.

CNN.com linked up to the story much of early Friday, providing high traffic, and helping to spread the word both nationally and internationally about the plight of the beavers.A woman from Beltsville, Maryland sent a letter to the California state governor’s office about the beaver after reading the story on CNN.com. The letter read, “I saw an article on CNN.com that had a link to a Bakersfield, CA news station about a beaver that has been sentenced to death by wildlife officials for gnawing on trees in a local park. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Why has this creature been sentenced to death for doing the only thing that it knows how to do?”

State wildlife officials from the Department of Fish and Game were issued a permit to kill the rodent, but are now working with the Bakersfield city officials to save the beavers after a request to revoke the permit. Nine trees have been gnawed to stumps near the Park at Riverwalk.

Read all the comments on the Nick 2.0 blog.

With the public behind them, the Kern River Beavers of Bakersfield, California came out on top. Maybe this is a prelude for the OSU Beavers when they play in Emerald Bowl just north in San Francisco on Dec 28th.

Congratulations to the Kern River Beaver Family. There was quite the impressive public response for them!

Once again, the Beavers are the champions! Pardon the pun, but dam right!

***UPDATE: KERN RIVER BEAVER FAMILY TO GET NEW HOME, 1/9/08, 10:53pm***

–mko