Think Wild will soon provide temporary homes for injured beavers and otters in need of rehabilitation.
Construction began on a 900-square-foot enclosure which will be the first of its kind in Oregon. It will feature large filtered pools, kennels, shift doors, climb-proof walls and 10-foot-tall, enclosed fencing. The enclosure will have four separate living spaces and hold up to 12 beavers and otters depending on the age and whether the animal would benefit from having a companion.
“It’s a huge relief and feeling of pride when we can successfully release any animal, but especially when it’s a more complex case or more complex species like a beaver or river otter,” Molly Honea, development and communications manager for Think Wild told the Source. “Knowing that these species really benefit the ecosystems that they’re a part of and help showcase the health of an ecosystem, we’re always happy to see a patient return to the wild.”
The enclosure will also provide temporary homes for other semi-aquatic predatory mammals like minks and possibly muskrats, according to Honea. Animals will only be housed together if they are the same age and same species. This typically happens when two orphaned juveniles are brought to Think Wild.
“A lot of times rehabilitating two patients together when they are orphans is better for their social development and of all their natural skills since they have each other to wrestle with and practice hunting with,” Honea says.
Honea estimated the project budget at $175,000 which includes water and electrical utilities. The development broke ground on April 21, and is expected to be completed within a few months.
Although they will soon have capacity to house animals from across Oregon, Honea says patients typically come from the Deschutes River watershed and east of the Cascades. Honea says Think Wild typically cares for around one beaver and otter in need of rehabilitation per year.
Beavers and otters come in for myriad reasons including car accidents, exhaustion from exiting dams and otters expelled from irrigation pipes being used as dens for young. Honea told the Source that several beavers were brought in from Pelton Regulating Dam near Warm Springs.
Under 2025’s House Bill 3932, Oregon classifies beavers as a keystone species and beneficial to the environment. The bill encourages landowners experiencing issues with them to use nonlethal measures to clear them out.
Honea says under these circumstances the new enclosure would allow Think Wild staff to hold them as they await relocation.
In the past, Think Wild staff would transfer orphaned otters to the Wildlife Center of The North Coast in Astoria. Think Wild nor WCOTNC had the proper enclosure for semi-aquatic mammals which was one factor in building the new enclosure.
Otters rehabilitated at Think Wild typically have not fared well without a proper enclosure with one passing away and another crying once its companion was gone.
That surviving otter is now at Kansas City Zoo after becoming habituated to humans.
“With juveniles and orphans, because they require such long-term care, it can be pretty challenging to have a successful rehabilitation story without the appropriate enclosure,” Honea says.
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