Trail Cam Captures Animal’s Rare Appearance in Major City

A trail cam positioned to capture secret photos and videos of wildlife against the backdrop of a major U.S. city captured the rare appearance of an ecologically important animal—a keystone species biologists want to see thrive. RJ Hawkins, a biology graduate student, says a trail cam along the Bronx River in New York City recently captured a beaver, a species that rarely makes an appearance in this section of the river system.

Videos by Outdoors

In fact, Hawkins says it’s the first time anyone’s recorded a beaver in the Bronx River since 2018. For about 10 years (between 2007 and 2018), biologists knew about a pair of beavers in the area, but prior to this pair, he says no one had seen beavers in New York City for 200 years. And there has been no record of the pair since 2018, leading scientists to speculate that they’ve died or moved to a new area.

[RELATED: WATCH: Bear Taking a Mud Bath in Colorado Is a Whole Vibe]

Other species Hawkins says the trail cam has spotted in the Bronx River include muskrats, snapping turtles, raccoons, coyotes, and many varieties of birds.

See the beaver on a Bronx River trail cam here.

Header stock image of the Bronx River by Andrew Grossberg/Getty Images

‘Fragile, Unique, Mysterious’: Rare Animal Spotted on Island