A family of “river anarchists” is flourishing after being reintroduced to an area where they now live 400 years ago. In just one year, they've made their mark.
The four Eurasian beavers were released on the Wallington Estate in Northumberland in July 2023 and recently welcomed a little one, the Guardian reported.
The work they have done has also included creating ponds, pools and mudflats that are half the size of a football field. The changing water levels in the wetlands have attracted kingfishers, grey herons and Daubenton's bats, among other wildlife.
The fascinating and awe-inspiring creatures may look cute and cuddly at first glance, but they stomp their tails on the water, fell trees and generally destroy things — in a good way. They also improve water quality, prevent erosion and reduce flooding, according to Rewilding Britain.
“Beavers are constantly changing the landscape; you don't really know what's going to happen and that probably scares some people,” Paul Hewitt, the National Trust's countryside manager at Wallington, told the Guardian. “They're basically river anarchists.”
The reintroduction of the species in Northumberland is one of many projects in the UK, where beavers flourished until the 1500s. In Scotland, they have helped the endangered vole recover and transformed an East Devon River ecosystem after a mysterious reappearance in 2014.
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Beavers are so useful that people even use them illegally in places that need a makeover.
“This time last year I didn't really know what beavers did,” Hewitt told the Guardian. “Now I understand a lot more and it's a huge eureka moment. They're such a magical animal in terms of what they do.”
Of the two adults and two cubs released in Wallington, one of the cubs may have migrated further — more than 60 miles to the River Derwent. That’s uncertain, because river anarchists don’t visit conservationists. Still, they’re up to no good, and have even inspired optimism among beaver safari-goers about the state of the environment, The Guardian reported.
“That’s why beavers are amazing,” Heather Devey, co-founder of Wildlife Intrigue, told the outlet. “There’s so much understandable doom and gloom — we’re in a climate crisis, a biodiversity crisis — but beavers offer a really positive outlook for the future.”
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