Striking image of beavers in a Polish city wins 2026 Rewilding Europe award

A striking image of beavers working in the heart of a Polish city has won this year’s Rewilding Europe award, a special category in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The category, in partnership with Rewilding Europe, highlights how nature can recover and the relationship that people have with it.

The image, taken by Polish photographer Jan Wieczorek, is titled Urban beavers and captures the creatures that have been living on a river that flows through the city of Olsztyn. Urban development around the beavers’ habitat has increased, yet they continue to thrive in the wetlands.

We here at Worth A Dam have seen our fair share of urban beaver photos and aren’t all that impressed but honestly its wonderful for Polish newspapers to have their own urban beaver photos.

They have certainly used ours often enough.

BEAVERS ON CBS

heidi08 Beavers October 5, 2026

ALL ABOUT THE BEAVER SCULPTURE MARTINEZ NEEDS

heidi08 Beavers October 4, 2026

Listen to the artist here:
And just in case it makes you curious about the inspiration he mentioned:

BEAVERS FROM THE SKY

heidi08 Beavers October 3, 2026

Just about Everything Ben Goldfarb posts on Facebook is interesting. Case in point: This from Canada this morning.

A few Taku River watershed beaver ponds, glimpsed from ground and air. Something about seeing beavers in Canada just feels sacred — like catching Springsteen at the Meadowlands (or so I imagine).

NEW BEAVER SCULPTURE UNVEILED

heidi08 Beavers October 2, 2026

Kent Monkman stands next to his new permanent sculpture, dubbed “The Colony,” as shown in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Michael Seleski (Mandatory Credit)

Kent Monkman debuts beaver sculpture in Toronto’s ambitious new waterfront park

TORONTO — Kent Monkman’s first-ever public art installation is dam good. The celebrated Cree artist’s new permanent sculpture, dubbed “The Colony,” debuts Wednesday in Toronto’s east end.

The 15-foot-high bronze structure features beavers dancing, feasting and celebrating, evoking Indigenous ceremonies.

It highlights the vital role of beavers in the natural, Indigenous and colonial histories of Turtle Island, says a release.

The public artwork is located in Toronto’s Biidsaasige Park along the Lassonde Art Trail, an ambitious open-air museum.

Monkman says its site, where the Don River meets Lake Ontario, is especially meaningful, as it’s been an important waterway for several First Nations for thousands of years.

“I can’t think of a better place for these beavers, inspired by the fanciful beavers of Veremondo Rossi’s 18th-century engraving, to gather in a ceremonial feast, celebrating our world views, honouring the water, and continuing our traditions of relaying knowledge through songs and stories,” he said in a statement.

A member of the Fisher River Cree Nation, Monkman is an interdisciplinary artist lauded for using classical painting, film and performance to challenge and rewrite colonial histories in Western art.

His artworks are held in the permanent collections of institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.