Scottish beaver reintroduction trial: final report published
The five-year trial on the reintroduction of beavers to Knapdale Forest, Argyll in Scotland finished in May 2014 and Scottish ministers will decide in 2015 whether the beavers at Knapdale, and those on the River Tay (founded originally by escapees from captivity, see SNH, Scottish Wild Beaver Group), can remain or will have to be removed. The reintroduction team…
Beavers gain approval in North America
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 alongside…
Doubt over reasons why Devon beavers should be removed
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
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 Forest…
Free living beavers on the River Otter in South West England to be removed
George Eustace MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and Marine Environment, and MP for the constituency of Camborne and Redruth in Cornwall) has replied to written question by Maria Eagle, the Shadow Environment Secretary, that, "We intend to recapture and rehome the wild beavers in Devon and are currently working out plans…
Trial reintroduction of beavers to Knapdale in Scotland successful
Jessica Aldred reports in The Guardian that scientists working on the 5-year trial reintroduction of beavers to Knapdale in Scotland, which finishes at the end of this month, have said the project has been an 'outstanding success'. Four groups of beavers were originally released between May 2009 and September 2010; they have successfully bred and…
Beavers at Blaeneinion in Wales
A pair of European beavers were released into a large secure enclosure in a 30 ha reserve at Blaeneinion near Machynlleth in West Wales in 2011. News and pictures/footage of the beavers can be found at the Blaeneinion web site and on Facebook.…
Scottish beaver reintroduction finds support
The 5-year official trial introduction of beavers at Knapdale in Argyll, Scotland ends this month. As reported on BBC News Scotland, a YouGov poll commissioned by the Scottish Beaver Trial suggests that 60% of Scots support the reintroduction, whereas 5% are opposed. The Scottish government will decide next year whether to allow beavers to become…
A wild family of beavers filmed in Devon, England
A sighting of a lone wild beaver on the River Otter in Devon, England was reported in July last year, and again last month at the same location. Now, a family of three beavers has been filmed on the River Otter (BBC News Devon; Mail Online; The Guardian). Although it is not known where they…
Beavers to the rescue?
With some of the worst floods ever known happening across southern England, a question that arises is, "Could beavers ameliorate the extent and impact of flooding?". As reported widely across the media recently (The Mammal Society; BBC News Magazine; The Telegraph; The Guardian; OurKingdom; Think to Sustain) the answer would appear to be yes, and in an economic way. For example,…
Beavers in England