A beaver baby boom is under way across Britain this summer in places where the species had been extinct for centuries.
From Ealing in London to the Cairngorms in Scotland, and from Canterbury in Kent to the Wallington Estate in Northumberland, new kits have emerged from their lodges for an after-dark dip in the water.
At Paradise Fields in Ealing, at least two kits have appeared just eight months after the pioneering reintroduction of a five-member beaver family in an urban area. Beavers were once permanent residents of London and much of the country.
Until about 20 years ago, beavers had been extinct from Britain for 400 years, having been hunted for their fur, meat and their scent oil, castoreum. Today, after licensed and unlicensed releases, there are about 1,500 beavers in Scotland and 600 to 800 in England.
Dr Sean McCormack, from the Ealing Beaver Project, said: “Beavers are an important animal we once lived alongside up and down the country and welcoming them back, even to our towns and cities, is the right thing to do.”
Two kits have also been born in the upper River Spey catchment, making them the first wild-born beavers in the Cairngorms for centuries. Dr Sarah Henshall, at the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “This is a really exciting milestone in our project to bring beavers back.”
Beavers’ dams create ponds for wildlife such as frogs and dragonflies, improve water quality and can reduce flooding. However, they can block field drainage channels and salmon migration, making engagement with farmers and fishers essential, she said.
Kits were seen in the River Stour in Canterbury, Kent, in July. A recent survey estimated the county now has hundreds of wild beavers.
At the other end of England, in Northumberland, the Wallington Estate recently revealed a new kit. Paul Hewitt, the countryside manager for the National Trust at Wallington, said: “Since welcoming the family of beavers [last year] the resulting impact on the water environment has been nothing short of astonishing. We have watched beavers do what beavers do, expertly altering their river environment to the massive benefit of other species.”
Kits are usually born from April to June, but are rarely seen outside their lodges until July or later. They spend three years with their parents before setting off to find new territories. But their expansion is naturally limited by the amount of suitable habitat, said Elliot McCandless, at the Beaver Trust.
“The biggest regulator of beavers will be themselves – they’re highly territorial and they will fight to the death over territory, which is the most common cause of death for males,” he said. The kits also have to avoid many predators, including otters, badgers, mink, pine marten, birds of prey and even large pike. Beavers were legally recognised as native, protected species once again in 2019 in Scotland and 2022 in England.
McCandless is optimistic about the future restoration of beavers across Britain. “There’s momentum and definitely a lot of public interest. What’s happening in Ealing is really positive and it’s really thrilling to see them thrive in an urban environment. But it’s one small step for species restoration.”
In England, beavers can currently be released only into enclosures, not into the wild. “That’s one of the biggest hold-ups to restoration,” said McCandless. “My frustration is that we’re generations behind the rest of Europe. The first beavers were reintroduced in Sweden in 1922, over 100 years ago, and they now have a population of about 120,000 animals.”
