Animals "Beaver diva" Nibi is allowed to stay with the keepers

A legal dispute between animal rights activists and the authorities over a female beaver has now been settled. Nibi, as the rodent is known, will not have to be released into the wild after two years in care, according to the state's wildlife department.

Instead, he will be allowed to remain at the animal care center in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, for educational purposes. The authorities had actually wanted to enforce a release into the wild, as they felt that a healthy beaver should no longer be kept in care.

The orphaned animal with the reddish-brown fur was found on the side of the road two years ago at the age of seven days, according to the animal welfare organization Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in Chelmsford.

Nibi does not want contact with other beavers

The keepers nursed Nibi back to health and tried in vain to bring her into contact with other beavers. She was therefore only accustomed to humans, groomed and cared for by them.

Since she has been old enough to go outside, Nibi has lived in an outdoor enclosure all day and is only brought indoors in bad weather and for examinations, says Newhouse. "We have reduced interactions with her to a minimum." But she still longs to be in the rehab room, which she probably associates with family and safety.

"I wish she wasn't such a diva"

"I wish she wasn't such a diva," wrote the founder of the facility, Jane Newhouse, on Facebook. The beaver lady did not want to be outside and have anything to do with conspecifics, the animal keeper said. And she emphasized: "We will not release any animal that we do not believe can survive in the wild."

Newhouse regularly published posts with photos of Nibi in which she provided information about the current status of the dispute with the authorities. The posts received thousands of likes. Many expressed their sympathy in comments - and their joy when the organization was officially allowed to keep the beaver as a teaching animal at the facility.

SDA