The Wildlife of the OU Biological Preserve

Beaver monitoring in the Preserve- began December, 2023

You may be wondering why your favorite trail in the preserve is occasionally underwater. Beaver (Castor canadensis; known as Amik in the Anishinaabemowin language) have returned to the OU Biological Preserve, and are busy constructing a dam nearby! OU faculty from both the Biological Sciences and English departments, with assistance from the Native American Advisory Committee, are hard at work to understand the needs of the beaver, and are in active discussions with various departments on campus and experts in the area to come up with a solution that best serves the beaver and greater OU community. Please keep returning to this page, as we will be sharing more information periodically. In the meantime, we currently have 5 cameras throughout the preserve monitoring beaver activity, so please enjoy photos and videos of our busy campus beavers!

Update 4/19/24: Thanks to a naming contest run by our OU Native American Student Organization, our two campus beavers have names! Please say hello to Waabigwan (Ojibwe for flower) and Noosookaa (Ojibwe for soft/fluffy)! We think/hope Waabi and Sookaa are expecting kits (baby beaver), so stay tuned for more updates!

Update 7/23/24: We are very excited to keep providing wonderful video of our animals on campus. Please visit our official OU AnimalBehavior social media pages below for the latest updates on our beavers, as well as the other amazing animals that call OU home!

Photo and Video update 5/3/24!

Photo and Video update 4/25/24!

Photo and Video update 4/12/24!

Photo and Video update 3/29/24!

Photo and Video update 2/29/24!

Photo and Video update 2/8/24!

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY: We have confirmation that we have 2 beaver that call the preserve home! 😁 Will we see some kits (baby beaver) in the spring?! We hope so!