Two adult beavers had been released on the site 18 months ago and have successfully bred and had a baby beaver, the National Trust has said
Exmoor‘s first baby beaver for 400 years has been captured on camera.
The young beaver, which is known as a kit, was born about six weeks ago and was caught on film swimming back to the family lodge with its mother while she stopped to chew on a tree branch.
Two adult beavers had been introduced to an enclosure within the Holnicote Estate in Somerset in January of last year, the first introduced on National Trust land for 125 years.
The footage proves that they have successfully bred, although Jack Siviter, who is one of the rangers on the Holnicote estate, has said that there had been other clues.
This comes after a team from NASA and NOAA have recently found that Earth’s “energy imbalance” had doubled between the years of 2005 and 2019. The energy imbalance of heat within the planet is simple to understand but is complex in its causes and impacts upon the climate.
He said: “We first had an inkling that our pair of beavers had mated successfully when the male started being a lot more active building and dragging wood and vegetation around the site in late spring.
“The female also changed her usual habits, and stayed out of sight, leaving the male to work alone.
“It was then several weeks until we spotted her again, and this is when our suspicions were confirmed that she had given birth, due to having very visible teats.”
The National Trust is hoping that beavers could help address the biodiversity and the climate crises within the UK. The way beavers build dams can alleviate causes of flooding, which is expected to become more frequent within the UK as a result of the global climate change.
The female adult beaver, who is named Grylls for showing survival instincts that had reminded the rangers of British adventurer Bear Grylls, was orphaned at an early age, Mr Siviter said.
“As a first-time mum she seems to be thriving and it’s great to see her with her new kit.”
The family is expected to stay together for two years before the kit leaves to find its own territory. It will then be moved to another enclosure or wild release site if regulations allow.
Beavers are being introduced across England to encourage nature and reduce flooding.
They restore wetlands by dam-building and felling trees, slowing, storing and filtering water, attracting other wildlife and reducing flooding downstream.
This comes after the school bubble system in England is being scrapped and only those who have tested positive for COVID-19 will have to self-isolate. The education secretary said he recognised the school isolation bubble system is causing disruption to many children.
They are also found wild on rivers in England and Scotland, having made a comeback after being hunted to extinction in the 16th century for their fur, glands and meat.
In 18 months, the beavers on Exmoor have transformed their habitat, building dams from trees, mud, stones, and vegetation, creating ponds and new channels, and felling some trees.
The result is a more diverse habitat, with wildlife including bats, dragonflies, kingfishers, sparrowhawks and otters.
Ben Eardley, project manager for the National Trust at Holnicote, said: “The beavers are doing a lot of what we want to see in terms of conservation and land management.
“They are letting the light and the water into the site, helping natural processes and providing opportunities for a host of other wildlife.”
