[JSteff]

The beavers do NOT attack randomly or for fun. Those hikers must have been doing something that made the beavers think that the beavers source of food, travel, the pups, etc and were in danger of real harm.
Beavers ignore bears, wolves, etc and just ride out any attack in the den. So I think the world has NOT gotten the whole story. Those “hikers” were really doing something bad to the beavers.

[jazusamo]

Well said but it’s been my experience that some beavers are unpredictable.

[CommerceComet]

The beavers do NOT attack randomly or for fun. Those hikers must have been doing something that made the beavers think that the beavers source of food, travel, the pups, etc and were in danger of real harm. Beavers ignore bears, wolves, etc and just ride out any attack in the den. So I think the world has NOT gotten the whole story. Those “hikers” were really doing something bad to the beavers.

Because aggression by beavers is pretty uncommon and because the consequences are so serious, I'm sure the first thing doctors did at the hospital was to begin treatment for rabies. Any warm-blooded mammal, including a beaver, can be a carrier of rabies. Because rabies is almost inevitably fatal if untreated, precautionary treatment would be the protocol.