BACE

A new PhD co-funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, the University of Stirling and the James Hutton Institute is now open to applications. Full details on FindAPhD.  Note: the deadline for applications is 11th June 2018.

To celebrate the work done by conservationists and the successful reintroduction of British plants and animals to the UK following their extinction in the wild, the Royal Mail will release a special collection of stamps on 17th April 2018. One of the stamps will feature the European beaver; the others will feature the osprey, pool frog, sand lizard, large blue butterfly and the stinking hawk’s beard (also Royal Mail Group). The move has received criticism from Tory MP Nigel Evans (e.g. The Sun, iNews).

A few days ago, an adult female beaver was killed by a car near Langford Bridge, near to the River Otter in Devon. It is very likely that the beaver was part of the River Otter Beaver Trial set up in 2015 and run by Devon Wildlife Trust. The animal was in good health and had been tagged when young near Ottery St Mary in 2015. It may have moved to the road during a period of heavy rainfall and high river levels. Although the River Otter population now consists of 25-30 individuals and this death will not affect the trial particularly, it is unfortunate that this is the first beaver road casualty to be reported in Britain (see BBC News, The Independent, DevonLive, The Sun, Mail Online.)

As the climate warms and Canadian beavers move northwards into the arctic, there are concerns that their engineering works may accelerate the thawing of the permafrost. Beaver dams pond back water and slow down the flow, and newly cut beaver channels can allow warmer water to move into the frozen tundra. These impacts of beavers on the effects of global warming have been studied using satellite imagery and aerial photography. More information can be found in an article in The New York Times.

Plans to release two adult beavers and two young into a 6.5 ha enclosure to alleviate flooding in the village of Lydbrook have been approved by Natural England (NE) and backed by the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove (GOV.UK). The beavers will be released in the spring of 2018. Michael Gove said, “The beaver has a special place in English heritage and the Forest of Dean proposal is a fantastic opportunity to help bring this iconic species back to the countryside 400 years after it was driven to extinction. The community of Lydbrook has shown tremendous support for this proposal and the beavers are widely believed to be a welcome addition to local wildlife.” This could lead to the consideration by NE of further applications for similar releases. As well as flood defence, the beavers in the Forest of Dean should bring wider benefits such as to local biodiversity. The Forestry Commission is funding the project and will carry out monitoring studies after the release. The Forest of Dean project has been widely covered in the media, e.g. BBC News, Huffpost, The Guardian, Green Party, South West Farmer, MRCVS Online). Most people support the project although caution has been expressed in some quarters about the possible impacts of wild beavers on farmland and the physical environment (e.g. National Farmers Union).

Beavers were first introduced into Knapdale in Argyll, Scotland in 2009 as part of the Scottish Beaver Trial. In November 2016, after the five year trial had ended, the Scottish Government announced that beavers would be given protected status in Scotland. This includes the large “illegal” population of beavers on the River Tay which probably originates from animals that escaped from captivity in ~2007. The Knapdale beavers were down to about nine individuals in four family groups, only one group of which appeared to be breeding, and were vulnerable. A licence has been given by Scottish Natural Heritage to a new partnership, “Scottish Beavers”  (formed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland), to release up to 28 beavers to reinforce the population. The aim is to achieve five breeding groups derived from a mix of Norwegian and Bavarian beavers (and maybe from other sources). As part of this plan, three beavers were released in 28th November 2017 (BBC News, WalkHighlands).

In July 2017, conservation organisations have expressed concern about plans by the Scottish Government to remove and relocate a family of beavers, including kits, which has been released illegally on a river near Beauly in the Highlands in Scotland (BBC News) . In October 2017, concerns were expressed that two trapped beavers from the family group had died in captivity and the group had been split into two (Trees for Life). The plans to relocate the beavers was suspended as reported on 23rd October 2017 (BBC News).

Plans to release a family of beavers into a large enclosure around Greathough Brook above the village of Lydbrook on the north-west edge of the Forest of Dean in the county of Gloucestershire, England have yet to be approved by the Government (see The Guardian and BBC News). It is hoped that the plans, which are supported by the Forestry Commission (who manage the Forest) and the local villagers, will be given the green light soon. It is believed that the beavers will will create dams, ponds and canals and hold back up to 6000 cubic metres of water and so prevent the flooding of Lydbrook, which has happened in the past.

There have been recent reports of an incident between a dog and a beaver that occurred near a footpath along the River Otter, near Otterton in Devon (BBC News, Devonlive, ITV News, Sidmouth Herald). It appears that a dog that was not on a lead received injuries that are not life threatening.  It is likely that the beaver had young kits nearby and was defending them. Signs are in place along the river to advise dog owners to keep their dogs are on a lead and out of the water in these areas. Such incidents are very rare but occasionally occur when animals (e.g. deer) or birds (e.g. swans)  have young and feel threatened in some way. Devon Wildlife Trust is licenced to carry out trial studies on the reintroduction of beavers to the River Otter until 2020 (ROBT).

Evidence is building from an enclosed beaver study being carried out by Devon Wildlife Trust, under the direction of Prof Richard Brazier from Exeter University and other scientists, of the benefits of beavers in providing: natural protection against flooding, cleaning water of pollutants thus improving water supplies, reducing soil loss and enhancing biodiversity. However, there are sceptics who are not yet convinced about the longer-term net benefits of beavers in the wider countryside (BBC News). The studies continue; a summary of the initial findings with reference to publications in the scientific press can be downloaded here.