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In 1948, Idaho wildlife officials used parachutes and break-open wooden boxes to move beavers from the McCall area to remote Chamberlain Basin, where they could live away from residents and development. Reports say 76 beavers were relocated; all but one survived. The sole fatality followed an animal escaping its restraint during descent—not a documented parachute failure.
Why did Idaho drop beavers by parachute?
Beavers were causing problems around McCall and Payette Lake as residents and development moved into places they already occupied. Idaho Fish and Game wanted to relocate them to suitable backcountry, but the intended destination had no roads. The basin is now within the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness.
Overland transport by truck and pack animals was difficult. In an account quoted by Boise State Public Radio, agency employee Elmo Heter explained that horses and mules became unsettled by struggling beavers, making the animals hard to handle and transport. Flying the beavers to the remote release area offered a way around that problem.
How did the parachute-and-box system work?
Heter first experimented with a willow container, then developed a wooden box designed to open when it hit the ground. Idaho Fish and Game says the boxes were built to release after touchdown, allowing the beavers to leave the carrier. The plan was to lower them into the basin by parachute rather than haul them overland.
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Geronimo was the test beaver
Before the larger relocation, Heter tested the method with an older male beaver named Geronimo. Boise State Public Radio reports that Heter dropped him repeatedly at a landing field, where handlers recovered him and placed him back in the box. Heter’s report, as reproduced by the broadcaster, described Geronimo eventually crawling into his box when the team approached.
Did the beavers survive?
Historical reporting gives the operation’s total as 76 beavers, with all but one surviving. The one death occurred after a beaver escaped its restraint during a descent and fell near the ground. The available accounts do not establish that the parachute itself failed.
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National Geographic dates the first drop to August 14, 1948. That is the date of the first drop, not evidence that all 76 beavers were released on that one day.
Where did they land, and what happened afterward?
The beavers were released in Chamberlain Basin, a remote area now within the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness. Idaho Fish and Game regarded the operation as successful: the beavers established a colony and began making habitat. The account supports that description, but it does not provide a measured ecological outcome or a current population estimate.
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Was parachuting beavers humane?
The story’s ingenuity does not make the relocation cost-free for the animals. National Geographic quotes wildlife biologist D.J. Schubert, who said translocation can be stressful and that this method likely compromised the beavers’ welfare. The historical reports establish the survival count and the colony’s establishment; they do not show that the experience was harmless.
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Sources
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game, “Travel Channel to Feature Idaho Beaver” (January 12, 2015)
- Samantha Wright, Boise State Public Radio News, “Parachuting beavers into Idaho’s wilderness? Yes, it really happened” (January 14, 2015)
- Lucy Sherriff, National Geographic, “Why beavers were parachuted into the Idaho wilderness 73 years ago” (September 16, 2021)
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