The birth of a wild beaver in north London bodes well for all of us.
We’ve got some dam fine news for you today folks. A beaver has been born into the wild in London for the first time in 400 years. The news is the result of a successful rewilding programme launched by Enfield Council in 2022.
It seeks to bring beavers back into the British countryside with the goal of improving ecosystems. Beavers were originally native to our rainy isle but were hunted out in the Elizabethan era, primarily for their fur.
Enfield Council has been doing this in conjunction with Capel Manor College – the only specialist environmental college in the capital – at a place called Forty Hall Farm. You can go and visit the farm but there’s no guarantee you’ll see the beavers as they have a wide range and need plenty of space away from people to build their dams.
The sex of the young beaver hasn’t been confirmed as the animal has only been seen from afar and in photographs but an expedition is underway to find out.
Why Rewild Beavers?
Beavers are actually great for the environment. As you well know they are dam builders. They do this to create a wetland that keeps them safe and in doing so provides a home for many types of fish and amphibians, which in turn is good for the birds that eat them.
Interestingly enough this makes beavers the only other animals apart from humans that transform their habitat. It, in turn, improves the habitat we live in.
How? Well, you know how every winter there’s always footage on TV of towns around Britain getting flooded? That’s partly due to the fact we killed all the beavers.
When we got rid of the beavers and their dams, their wetlands went too and these wetlands used to function as very useful flood control systems, giving floodwater a place to sit where it wasn’t as destructive.
The hope is that bringing back the beaver might reduce the amount of floods you’ll see splashed across the news.
Wild Beavers in London: Practical Information
Where: Forty Hall Farm, Enfield
When: Beavers were reintroduced in 2022
