<
https://www.positive.news/environment/baby-beavers-born-in-urban-london-for-the-first-time-in-over-400-years/>
"
At least two kits have appeared just eight months after the pioneering
reintroduction of a beaver family to west London
Their births mark the end of a more than 400-year absence of breeding beavers
in urban London: at least two new kits born in the spring appear to be
thriving, announced organisers of The Ealing Beaver Project this week.
In what is being called “a huge advancement in urban rewilding”, the successful
reintroduction of beavers to London – and now the birth of the kits – is the
fruit of a collaboration between multiple organisations and bodies.
The babies have been spotted venturing outside of their lodge in recent weeks
at what is a publicly accessible site in Paradise Fields, a wetland in
Greenford, west London. Beavers used to be permanent residents in the capital,
before hunting, habitat destruction and persecution led to the loss of the
species throughout the UK. Their arrival shows that humans and wildlife can
thrive side by side in urban environments, said Dr Sean McCormack, the licence
holder at the Ealing Beaver Project and chair of Ealing Wildlife Group.
“I had every confidence our beaver family would settle in at Paradise Fields,
but to discover they’ve had new baby kits this spring is really the icing on
the beaver cake,” he said. “These are not a wilderness species, they are an
important animal we once lived alongside up and down the country and welcoming
them back, even to our towns and cities, is the right thing to do.
“We may need to learn to live alongside them again, and sometimes manage their
behaviour, but the ecosystem services they provide have been clearly
demonstrated here already at the Ealing Beaver Project.”
Water quality has improved as a result of their reintroduction, he said,
flooding has reduced and more insects and other wildlife had already been
attracted to the site."
Cheers,
*** 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
