Description
What is the Bark the Beaver plush?
Bark is the beaver at the center of Bark the Beaver Helps the Black Hills Thrive, a children’s picture book the Black Hills Parks & Forests Association (BHPFA) produced with the Black Hills Area Community Foundation. This is the matching plush, sold on its own. She is a custom run of The Petting Zoo’s Wild Onez beaver, made for BHPFA with the two yellow tail stripes from the story built right into the plush.
She stands 12 inches from nose to tail, the right size to ride along in a car seat, hold during a bedtime read-aloud, or sit on a classroom shelf next to the book.
About the plush
Bark comes from The Petting Zoo’s Wild Onez series, which makes its plush bodies and fill from recycled plastic bottles. The fabric is soft polyester woven from recycled PET, and the fill is 100% recycled water-bottle fiber. Each Wild Onez plush keeps roughly 17 bottles out of the landfill, and across the full line The Petting Zoo reports keeping about 15 million bottles out of the waste stream every year.
The yellow stripes are part of the story. In the book, a road-painting truck rolls over Bark’s tail and leaves two bright reflective stripes that stay with her for the rest of the book. They stay on the plush too. The plot (a beaver rebuilding a Black Hills wetland) and the plush itself (recycled plastic given a second life) are doing the same kind of work at different scales.
The character
In the book, Bark starts out along Rapid Creek in the middle of Rapid City, doing what beavers do: chomp, drag, build. A ranger moves her to the Willow Creek Trail on the edge of the Black Elk Wilderness, where her dams slow the water, raise the water table, and bring back the wildflowers, trout, and wildlife. The plush is the character from that story, so the toy comes with a reason to care about the real beavers in the Black Hills.
Specifications
| Character | Bark, from Bark the Beaver Helps the Black Hills Thrive |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | The Petting Zoo (Wild Onez series), custom run for BHPFA |
| Size | 12 inches nose to tail |
| Material | Polyester fabric (recycled PET), 100% recycled water-bottle fiber fill |
| Care | Surface clean only |
| Recommended age | 3+ |
Who is this for
The kid who just heard the story. A plush gives a young reader something to hold while you read, and something to point at the next time you drive past a beaver pond on the Mickelson Trail or along Spearfish Creek.
The classroom teaching Black Hills ecology. The plush works as a hands-on prop after a read-aloud for keystone-species lessons.
The souvenir buyer who wants the toy without the book. If the book is already on the shelf at home, the plush stands on its own.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the plush?
About 12 inches from nose to tail. It carries The Petting Zoo’s standard safety rating for ages 3 and up.
What is it made of?
The fabric is polyester woven from recycled PET, and the fill is 100% recycled water-bottle fiber. Each Wild Onez plush keeps roughly 17 plastic bottles out of the landfill. The Bark version is a custom run produced for BHPFA, with the two yellow tail stripes from the book built in.
Why does Bark have yellow stripes on her tail?
It is from the story. A road-painting truck rolls over her tail near Rapid Creek and leaves two bright stripes. They stay with her for the rest of the book, and they are part of the plush.
Is there a book to go with it?
Yes. Bark the Beaver Helps the Black Hills Thrive is sold on its own, and you can buy the book and plush together as a set for a small saving over buying them separately.
Does buying this support national parks?
Yes. BHPFA is the official nonprofit partner of Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Scotts Bluff National Monument, and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, as well as the Black Hills National Forest and Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands. Proceeds from every purchase support environmental education and visitor services at our partner sites.
Where else can I find it?
The plush is stocked at BHPFA-operated visitor centers at our partner sites, including Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park, and at BHPFA’s headquarters store in Custer.
The Bark family
- Bark the Beaver Helps the Black Hills Thrive picture book (sold on its own)
- Bark the Beaver book and plush set (the book and this plush together, a small saving)
