"The action to scare away beavers that are damaging the levee fortifications is underway. Soldiers are using firecrackers along the entire length of the fortifications, from Czarna Struga to the Silesian gates," reported the Otyń municipal office on Facebook on Wednesday, September 25. On Tuesday, the office explained that the beavers were "damaging the structure of both the levees and the additional sandbag reinforcements."
Otyń: The Military Sent to Fight Beavers, Using Firecrackers
The "Nasz Bóbr" association responded to the post from the Otyń municipal office, requesting photos of the locations where the beavers are reportedly digging into the levees and destroying fortifications, as well as the exact locations. "According to Google Maps, the levee is quite far from the Oder River, so based on our knowledge, beavers would not be able to build dens there," they said.
On Thursday, the association stated that "the media and political campaign against beavers is ongoing." They reminded that beavers are a partially protected species, which means legal permission is required to take action against them. "We have asked the Regional Directorates for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ) for access to the derogations (which are exemptions from the law that protects beavers)," the association explained on Facebook.
We do not agree with irrational judgments or with the negligence committed by the RDOŚ against beavers! Especially now, as there’s a 'hunt for beavers' sparked by Donald Tusk and his so-called experts
- wrote the "Nasz Bóbr" association.
Donald Tusk: Sometimes You Have to Choose Between Love for Animals and Safety
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, during a crisis meeting in Głogów, announced the fight against beavers. "Your suggestions aren't the first that quick changes are needed regarding the presence of beavers on the levees. In 2010, we made decisions, environmentalists were upset, but there are priorities. Sometimes you have to choose between love for animals and the safety of cities, villages, and the stability of the levees," the prime minister said.
The prime minister's statement was commented on for Gazeta.pl by Dr. Andrzej Czech, a biologist and beaver researcher. "The prime minister's claims about blaming beavers for floods in the face of such heavy rainfall are a massive nonsense made up on the spot," said Dr. Czech. "Beavers exist not only in Poland, and probably only in Poland would a prime minister make such absurd statements. I suspect that behind him is a hunting lobby, which would gladly take on the 'task of reducing beavers,' just as it did with wild boars," the expert emphasized.
