Eight beavers stunned the internet by completing a project government couldn’t in 7 years and saving $1.2 million

Animals are not to be underestimated. Most of them have an intellect and instincts that can work even better than humans. If you’ve struggled to imagine how animals can outsmart or surpass the strength of humans, the story of these eight beavers from the Czech Republic is beyond fascinating. The animals managed to build dams in a short period to protect the Brdy landscape area, overtaking the government team, per Czech Radio. While the humans were processing and planning for over seven years, the beavers noticed and got the job done, leaving people baffled and in stitches.

The administration of the Brdy protected landscape area had received approval for 30 million crowns (around $94,035) to build a dam and protect the space. However, permissions needed to be taken and a whole procedure had to be followed that eventually delayed the department, per National Geographic. What the government had been waiting on for quite some time was completed in a reportedly overnight project by the beavers. What makes this story all the more enticing is that the smart creatures built the dams exactly where it was required, getting the costly job done for free.

The Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic (AOPK CR) shared a video, explaining how the animals get to work. Beavers are known to use mud, rocks and other materials to build dams on their own, creating a sort of wetland called “beaver ponds.” This creates a habitat for other species and helps with controlling floods. But what did they do here that’s getting them all the fame? The beavers reportedly built dams on the bypass constructed by soldiers years ago. Bohumil Fišer, the head of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area Administration, described the impressive situation as a phenomenal course of nature. “The beavers beat them to it, saving us CZK 30 million ($1.2 million). They built the dams without any project documentation and for free," he noted.

Zoologist Jiri Vlček added that beavers are known to build dams in a day or two, which is three or four days shorter than what it would take humans to complete it. While the government had kept the project on hold for seven long years due to permissions and other hindrances, the beavers were only concerned with nature’s needs and acted astutely. Jaroslav Obermajer, the head of the Central Bohemian office of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency (AOPK), praised the rodents for their remarkable instincts, which proved to be a massive help. "Beavers always know best. The places where they build dams are always chosen just right—better than when we design it on paper," he said. 

However, Gerhard Schwab, the beaver manager for the southern part of Bavaria for the Federal Nature Conservation Association, believed that the beavers might have taken more than just a day or two to build the dams. He suggested that the rodents might have completed the task in a few weeks and the work got noticed only after its completion. Nevertheless, all’s well that ends well. Ben Goldfarb, a science journalist, acknowledged the work of the beavers and supported the fame they rightfully earned. “Instead of saying, ‘That wasn't what we planned originally,’ they (the administration) recognized that these animals are filling that ecological function very well and said, ‘We're going to let them keep doing it,’” he remarked.