City staff remove beaver dam at Kitchener creek due to ‘flood risk’

The removal of a beaver dam in Kitchener is causing some concerns. CTV’s Alexandra Holyk explains why.

A beaver dam built on a creek in Kitchener, Ont. has been removed by city staff, and it’s ruffled the fur of some local nature lovers.

CTV News received an email from a resident near Shoemaker Creek earlier this week, citing concerns over the dam’s removal and what will become of the beavers.

The resident said she was worried the beavers would be trapped and euthanized.

In an email to CTV News on Wednesday, city spokesperson Kayla Snyder confirmed the dam’s removal, adding that no beavers had been killed.

“Recently, a large dam in Shoemaker Creek was discovered during a routine inspection,” Snyder said. “As this poses a flood risk, we worked with licensed wildlife experts to restore the creek.”

Shoemaker Creek runs between Stirling Avenue South and Highland Road East.

“The city encourages and actively supports beaver populations where suitable habitat exists, and where their presence provides many positive impacts to the surrounding ecosystem,” Snyder added.

She also noted the beavers at the creek hadn’t been captured or relocated.

“We continue to work with wildlife management experts to monitor the situation and assess.”

The executive director of The Fur-Bearers, a charity dedicated to the protection of fur bearing animals, said beavers are a keystone species – an animal that plays a vital role in their ecosystem.

“Beavers are amazing animals and they’re really important,” Lesley Fox, executive director of The Fur-Bearers, said. “They’re preparing for winter, and so the beavers are building up their dam.

Although the animals weren’t relocated, Fox believes the damage has already been done.

“Removing dams actually just makes the problem worse. Beavers are going to go now and take more trees to replace the dam that was moved.”

She said the beavers will keep coming back and could be at risk of further retaliation.

“Oftentimes we see the end result is the beavers getting trapped or killed. We’re really urging the city to be proactive,” she said.

Instead, she suggested installing a pipe system that would allow the city to control water levels along the creek.

“Essentially a PVC pipe that’s integrated with the dam and allows water to move from one side to another.”

Fox believes removing the dam is a waste of taxpayer money and city time.

“The reality is, if there’s a habitat and a food source, there will always be beavers at Shoemaker Creek.”