1950s Footage Shows Wildlife Officers Parachuting Beavers

Because why would you want to drive them to their new homes? Seems logical.

In newly discovered footage, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game once parachuted beavers and other rodents into the Idaho backcountry due to overpopulation.

Back in the 1940s, Idaho had a huge overpopulation of beavers in some areas of the state. A plan had to be created to try and redistribute the animals  to different areas. Someone came up with the idea to parachute the animals in the wild countryside.

Beavers and other rodents were captured, put into special travel boxes and then parachutes are attached to the top of the boxes. A plane then flew the animals into the "Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness." Don't worry PETA members (and me frankly), all the beavers survived the parachuting.

The film was made around 1950 and was titled "Fur for the Future," but was lost. The film was recovered by Fish and Game historian Sharon Clark after the footage was mislabeled and stored incorrectly.

The Idaho Fish and Game and the Idaho Historical Society recently released the video on Youtube.

Steve Nadeau, the Idaho Fish and Game's statewide fur bearer manager said that beaver trapping and transporting still happens today, but without the parachutes.

"We haven't done airplane drops for 50-plus years, but it apparently worked pretty well back then to re-establish them in remote places."

Instead of being transported to the Frank Church River region, beavers and muskrats are now moved to the Owyhee desert in Idaho's southwest corner. The animals help restore vegetation the area that has been stripped away from watershed use. The hope is that the animals will make ponds in the area to hold water year-round.

Read more at The Daily Mail.