Beaver Colony in Fairfax County Receives Reprieve From Death by Drowning

January 2000

Despite available humane alternatives, authorities in Fairfax County, Virginia, announced their decision to trap and kill a colony of beavers located in a dry pond near Tysons Corner. In response, PETA immediately posted an action alert on our Web site and called our members in Fairfax County asking them to contact the Board of Supervisors and demand that it use effective humane methods of beaver control. Fairfax County and state officials were inundated with correspondence from concerned individuals about the plan to kill the beavers. The outpouring prompted the governor to assign the under secretary of natural resources to coordinate an effort to resolve the beaver conflict. In October, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution supporting the relocation of the beaver colony to another Virginia locality. The motion encouraged the Page County Board of Supervisors to pass a similar resolution stating its willingness to have the Fairfax beaver colony relocated to Page County Supervisor Elaine McConnell’s farm in Springfield. The beavers now live safely in their new home.