INYIM Media Meet-Me: Aspen & Juniper Beaver's Love Story.

INYIM Media Meet-Me: Aspen& Juniper Beaver's Love Story.

"On Valentine’s Day, it may be well to note that not all relationships start smoothly, including one at the National Zoo in which the male member of an animal couple reportedly started things off by sinking his teeth into the tail of the female.

Yet, after long and patient effort, the relationship has apparently prospered, and Aspen, a 7-year-old male beaver, and Juniper, a 1-year-old female, are now serenely living together, the zoo said last week.

Beavers are meant to be together, the zoo said, noting that the creatures are social, monogamous and organize themselves in the wild as family units, building domed lodges of sticks and mud.

But as has been said, the course of true love does not always run smooth, and from the zoo’s statement, it seems biology needed help.

Of the two animals, it appeared that Juniper, the young female, may have had the more affecting backstory.

Born in the wild in southwestern Virginia, according to the zoo, Juniper was found wandering alone. No family or lodge could be located. Rehabilitators did not think she could survive long on her own, but the zoo thought it could do well by her.

Importantly, they also thought she and Aspen might become a couple.

Aspen, the male, had been born at the Detroit Zoo and came to Washington at about 9 months of age. However, according to the National Zoo, he had yet to find his life’s companion.

Although Aspen had been around other beavers, he was “pretty territorial” at first, the zoo said. And as for Juniper, she had never been close to an adult beaver before and was unfamiliar with beaver ways.

The zoo said it tried to give them maximum exposure to each other before allowing physical contact. To that end, a mesh barrier was erected in the beaver exhibit.

After four patient months, it seemed time. Down came the barrier. The beavers, the zoo said, could at last get close to each other.

That, the zoo said, was when Aspen bit Juniper, his prospective mate, in the tail.

They were safely separated, but, in the words of zookeeper Jackie Spicer, “we knew we’d need to put in a lot more effort if we wanted to make it work for these two.”

Finally, in January, the start of beaver breeding season, it was deemed time for another try.

Even then, success did not occur overnight. For about a week and a half, they dwelled separately, one in the yard, the other in the lodge.

But then, one morning, keepers found that Juniper and Aspen had spent the night together in the lodge. And they have been peacefully cohabiting “ever since,” said the zoo.

Juniper is still young, the zoo said, and the first chance for them to breed would come at this time next year.

Meanwhile, the zoo said, having a mating pair is good for the beavers and good for their species. It would allow the public to get to know them, the zoo said, and the ways of a species that had once been hunted to near extinction." - washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/14/beavers-bite-zoo-valentine-couple/