In Leithaprodersdorf

Beaver plague in Burgenland: conflict comes to a head

Beavers look cute, but can also cause massive damage.

(Bild: Christian schulter)

The coexistence of humans and beavers in the northern Burgenland municipality of Leithaprodersdorf is not without its tensions. One always gets in the way of the other and endangers its existence. There seems to be no solution in sight. 

It has been known for over ten years that there are several beaver territories in Leithaprodersdorf. But the plague has never been as bad as it is now. The rodents are now building such ingenious underground dams to protect themselves from predators that even local residents walking along country lanes find themselves in dangerous situations.

Recently, a carriage driver almost had an accident because his horse almost stepped into a 90-centimetre-deep and 60-centimetre-wide beaver hole that was not recognizable as such at first glance. The man was able to swerve out of the way at the last second.

A carriage driver and his horse almost lost their lives in this 90-centimeter-deep hole. In the meantime, a plank was laid over it.

(Bild: Petra Klikovits)

The nibbled trees by the windbreak.

(Bild: Petra Klikovits)

Flooded fields
Farmers are also affected, especially those who should be cultivating fields around the Edelbach, which separates Leithaprodersdorf from the Lower Austrian market town of Au, but can't - like Martin Eder.

On his six-hectare field, the 54-year-old alternates between cereals, maize, soybeans and sugar beet. However, he can only cultivate two thirds of the area because the beaver dams cause the water to back up and flood the farmland.

Farmer Martin Eder in front of his flooded field.

(Bild: zVg)

(Bild: Petra Klikovits)

No compensation
"The stream is now higher than the field. Access with my tractor is impossible because otherwise I would drown. But the crop losses are even worse. A third of the sugar beet that grew here last year has rotted. The financial loss amounted to 5,000 euros. There is no compensation from the state, as there is for game, because beavers are not listed in the Burgenland Hunting Act," he sighs.

Because half of the Edelbach belongs to Burgenland and half to Lower Austria, Eder contacted both beaver managers responsible. However, this conversation was not satisfactory for him.

I was told that I could remove a section of the dam under the instruction of the beaver manager and then lay a 30-centimeter-wide drainage pipe myself so that the water could run off. However, if there are large quantities of water, this will clog up due to the mud. So these are only pseudo-solutions. I really wonder what is more important: the protection of the beaver or the existence of people.

Landwirt Martin Eder

Clear guidelines
And what does Burgenland's beaver manager Clemens Trixner have to say about the matter? "All beaver territories in Leithaprodersdorf were recently inspected. Together with Wildtierinfo Niederösterreich, further measures were explored with local residents at a border location in order to enable smooth management steps. At this point in time, no beaver influences such as waterlogging, overflowing or tube collapses on paths have been documented in this section. Nevertheless, the removal of blockages and preventive dam manipulation in the event of new constructions were conceded."

The European beaver is a formerly extinct but native species that is recolonizing its ancestral habitat. It is internationally protected. This means that any exceptions granted must be sufficiently and transparently justified. Due to EU legal requirements, the resolution of human-beaver conflicts is carried out in three stages.

One of the beaver dams in Leithaprodersdorf.

(Bild: Petra Klikovits)

The backwater at Edelbach leads to flooding.

(Bild: Petra Klikovits)

Identifying hotspots
The first step is to clarify the situation, then intervene in the animals' habitat by removing dams. Only at the end is intervention in the population planned. "Leithaprodersdorf is so far the only municipality in Burgenland where there have already been several authorized removals by trapping and killing. However, as long as sections of water are attractive to beavers and the food supply is right, sections that have been released will be restocked. However, a section of one to two kilometers is only territorially occupied by a beaver family of three to six," says Trixner.

In the case of applications for dam removal, the official processing time is three weeks. To ensure a smooth process, it is recommended to contact the province's beaver management team in advance. As an external mediator, the beaver management team records all case reports centrally. Consultations have already taken place in over 100 Burgenland municipalities.

Bibermanager Clemens Trixner

The aim of beaver management is therefore to identify hotspots and propose measures that enable "living with the beaver": "In many municipalities, measures have already succeeded in keeping the beaver in those stretches of water where influences are tolerable. Beaver activities there make a significant contribution to greater biodiversity."