Thousands of Beavers Parachuted Into Idaho. What Happened Next Is Unbelievable!

In the summer of 1948, a plane soared above the wilds of Idaho. Its cargo was unlike anything the world had ever seen. Wooden boxes containing live beavers were strapped to surplus World War II parachutes. Moments later, the boxes were released, and dozens of bewildered beavers floated down into the remote Chamberlain Basin. It sounds like folklore or a scene from a cartoon, but what happened next was real—and more unbelievable than anyone could have imagined. This wasn’t a stunt; it was a desperate gamble in the name of environmental restoration. What began as a bizarre solution to a growing wildlife problem would spiral into one of the most extraordinary ecological events in modern history—one that continues to reshape the Earth in ways still being uncovered.