Dam good news! Beaver returning to English wilds

HUNTED to extinction more than 400 years ago, the beaver looked doomed never to return to England’s wilds.

But now the mammals are finally biting back and could become a common sight in the countryside after the Government announced plans to reintroduce them.

Four Eurasian beavers – two adults and two ‘kits’, as the offspring are known – will be released next spring. The family will live in a 16-acre enclosure in the Forest of Dean.

Their return follows a successful reintroduction in Scotland in Knapdale, Argyll, after a fiveyear trial – the first reintroduction of a mammal to Britain.

Around 21 of the rodents are already resident in England at the River Otter, Devon, after an unlicensed or accidental release. Wildlife body Natural England will also consider applications from other parts of the country for trial releases – promising ‘this could be the first of many such schemes’. Environment Secretary 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 herbivores, which weigh around 4-5st and a feed mainly on bark, were hunted for their scent glands used in perfume.