The dam project, drafted in 2018 and based on a former military training site south of Prague, had been delayed by land negotiations. Local beavers built several dams, saving the government more than one million euros.

"Beavers always know best," said an environmental official in the Czech Republic, where the animals commandeered construction.

The beavers have built at least four dams and they could not have chosen their location better. They built them on a bypass gully, originally excavated by soldiers to drain a former military base. This drainage system had a negative environmental impact, but the beaver-built dams helped to restore the area into a thriving wetland.