Remember when Detroit was excited to see beavers again after a century of setting the river on fire?  Well that’s over. Short welcome committee eh?

DNR kills some beavers on Detroit’s Belle Isle

A decade ago, beavers returned to Detroit’s Belle Isle for the first time in a century, causing celebration among environmentalists. But now it seems the rodents have worn out their welcome on Detroit’s island park, or at least with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which has run it since 2014. On Thursday, the department announced it had killed some beavers during a Belle Isle Park Advisory Committee meeting.

Ron Olson, DNR’s chief of parks and recreation, confirms that the department killed four beavers on Belle Isle and the nearby Milliken State Park. Olson tells Metro Times the DNR isn’t trying to exterminate the aquatic mammals from the parks, but only trying to keep their population in check. Each pair of beavers has around four young, and around this time of year, they start moving out of their dens and establishing their own territories. (more…)