Monthly Archives: October 2014
Beavers gain approval in North America
Written on October 31, 2014 at 10:57 am
A recent article in the New York Times describes how beavers are gaining approval in the Western United States as a defence against a drier and warmer climate. For example, the article points out that, “Beaver dams, it turns out, have beneficial effects that can’t easily be replicated in other ways. They raise the water table alongsideContinue Reading
Doubt over reasons why Devon beavers should be removed
Written on October 9, 2014 at 5:53 pm
Freedom of Information requested by Friends of the Earth (FOE) has uncovered that Public Health England (PHE) does not think that beavers pose a disease risk to human health. Alasdair Cameron from FOE said, “This new evidence completely undermines Government plans to remove Devon beavers from the wild”. Read the full story here.
The history of beavers in Britain, beaver genetics and reintroductions
Written on October 2, 2014 at 1:11 pm
Three recent papers published in the scientific press contribute to the debate about important issues surrounding beavers in Britain and their reintroduction. The first by Adrian Manning and colleagues (Manning, Coles, Lunn et al. 2014) reports on the use of radiocarbon dating techniques to date a wood specimen with beaver gnaw marks from Kielder ForestContinue Reading