Why isn't a beaver a primary consumer?

Answer 1

In the food chain, primary consumers eat producers (plants) and consume their energy, while secondary consumers eat herbivores and thus consume the producers' energy secondhand. As a beaver is an herbivore, it is a primary consumer.

Answer 2

Beavers are primary consumers. They are herbivores.

They eat tree bark and the cambium layer beneath the bark. They also eat some aquatic plants, leaves and twigs.