IDAHO – Throughout 1948, 76 beavers experienced the ride of their lives, parachuting into Chamberlain Basin in the wilderness of Idaho. The parachutes were part of a wild program to relocate the animals from the McCall and Payette Lake areas, as people had begun to build home and the beavers had begun to do what beavers to best.
According to Boise State Public Radio, Elmo Heter of Idaho Fish and Game determined that Chamberlain Basin would be the perfect place to relocate the beavers to, the question was just how to get them there. Understanding that there was a surplus of parachutes following WWII, Heter began plans to drop them from the sky.
A special box was designed specifically for the task, and Heter’s test beaver, Geronimo, was the first of 76 to fly into the basin. Geronimo apparently made himself quite a life in Chamberlain Basin, settling down with three young female beavers.
Through the entire project, only one beaver failed to survive the drop.
