– It turned into a nationwide debate and quite a serious emotion, which I understand well – he said about the beavers at an extraordinary meeting on Saturday (28/09). government Donald Tusk. Last week prime minister stated that quick changes are needed when it comes to the presence of these animals on the embankments. And as he announced, he did so.
“Hard times for beavers.” Donald Tusk allowed them to be shot.
– This is not the first case – I am looking at the Minister of Environment – that times have been difficult for beavers in recent years. Our predecessors sent over 8,000 beavers to this world. The matter is serious. (…) The West Pomeranian voivode requested the possibility of shooting in a situation in which it was found that the embankment was at risk due to the work of beavers.
– No beaver was harmed – said the Prime Minister, who thought for a moment and repeated: – No beaver was harmed. After a while, Tusk added that the possibility of culling beavers was “opened, but not to abuse it.”
– I also decided, in consultation with Minister Klimczak, that all embankments that will be rebuilt or built anew will be secured with appropriate installations, nets, and the structures will be different so that beavers cannot damage the embankments. Then there will be no need to neutralize beavers, he said.
In short, it will be fine, Mr. Beaver. There will be no reason to raise the alarm
– he concluded Donald Tusk.
Minister of Climate and Environment Paulina Hennig-Kloska also spoke to confirm Donald Tusk's words. – 8,030 beavers were shot in 2016-2023. We are not able to quickly check what the reasons were, but we can definitely say whether it was necessary. We treated it absolutely as a last resort and would resort to such measures only if it was necessary to save people's lives and health. Fortunately, there was no need for this. Yesterday I talked to the West Pomeranian Voivode and he said that he did not suspect that he would use this consent. This means that no beaver will suffer from the flood, said the minister.
Beaver researcher critical of Tusk's words. Talking about “pyramid bullshit”
“The Prime Minister's claims about attributing a role to beavers in floods during such heavy rainfall are pyramidal nonsense made up on the spot” – commented for Gazeta.pl the Prime Minister's statement from last week, Dr Andrzej Czech, doctor of biological sciences and beaver researcher. “Beavers are not found only in Poland, and it is probably only in Poland that the head of the government can say such nonsense. I suspect that the hunting lobby is behind him and will be happy to undertake the 'task of reducing beavers', just like in the case of wild boars” – added the expert.
According to Dr. Czech, embankments should be regularly maintained in accordance with specific guidelines. “Secondly, protecting them against digging by beavers, foxes, badgers, voles and any other animals is very simple and cheap. All you need to do is dig in metal nets, which is commonly used in many countries around the world” – described the researcher.
“In the event of organized killing of beavers, we will suffer irreparable environmental losses resulting from the reduction of natural water retention and drought prevention, increased flood risk, decline in biodiversity and violation of national and international law, not to mention the ineffectiveness of these actions,” emphasized Dr. Andrzej Czech. The researcher reminded that beavers play “a colossal and underestimated role in accumulating over 200 million m3 of water in the most sensitive places in Poland.” “Getting rid of this ally during the climate crisis will be total idiocy,” the expert concluded.