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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/beavers-are-back-in-london-and-theyre-thriving/>
"The clues are unmistakable. A muddy embankment is covered in webbed,
triangular footprints. A tree’s bark has been gnawed on one side, exposing the
pale innards of its trunk. But the real giveaway is the thick dam made of
branches that’s blockading a stream.
This site may be in London, a bustling metropolis of nine million people
dominated by concrete high-rises and traffic-filled main roads, but it is now
under the management of a new, or at least returning, critter on the block: the
Castor fiber, or Eurasian beaver.
“The beavers absolutely love it here,” says Nadya Mirochnitchenko, an ecologist
and coordinator for Ealing Wildlife Group, a volunteer-run community
organization that is leading a scheme to reintroduce them. “In fact, they are
getting kinda chubby.”
Beavers were hunted to extinction in England during the Elizabethan times, in
the 16th century. But last October, these stout, furry rodents were
reintroduced into London for the first time in 400 years as part of an effort
to rewild the city.
The family of five beavers — a breeding pair and three offspring — were
transported from Scotland by the Beaver Trust, a UK-based nonprofit, and
released in Paradise Fields, a leafy, eight-hectare public park in West London,
at an event attended by the mayor of London.
“Beavers are a keystone species,” adds Mirochnitchenko. “That means they have a
disproportionately large impact on ecosystems. They alleviate flooding, they
boost biodiversity, they keep everything in check. They’re like ecosystem
engineers.”"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
