An amazing video shows a beaver being released into the Forder Valley in Plymouth for the first time in over 400 years.
The 20kg male Eurasian Beaver was caught in late September in the wild from the Tay Catchment in Scotland. He was released on Tuesday into specially designed re-wilding enclosure near Poole Farm in the first urban release of beavers in the UK.
The beaver’s behaviour and actions will now be monitored in the hope that its actions will reduce flooding further downstream and create habitats for wildlife in the Bircham Valley.
This amazing scene is all part of the Green Minds project, a Plymouth City Council initiative which will re-wild urban parks, gardens and verges and introduce a new system of working with partners.
It will also aim to encourage more people from all walks to life to enjoy the health benefits that green spaces provide.
Scroll to the top of the article to watch
As well as being charismatic, beavers are fascinating creatures as they engineer their surroundings by felling trees, damming sections of river and creating a network of canals.
They also create wetland habitats which are great for birds, fish and invertebrates and they also ‘slow the flow’ of water during and after rainfall that can help reduce flooding downstream.
Beavers also lead to improved water quality and quantity and store carbon in a really efficient way to help combat the climate emergency.
The council will be monitoring two similar rivers - Bircham and Seaton - to observe the positive impacts the beavers will have.
There are hopes to bring a female in within the next few months so that there will be more beavers in the future.
Unfortunately, Poole Farm is still closed to the public but as soon as it can open again, the public will be welcome to visit.
The beaver is coming from the wild to an enclosure. Is this cruel?
The beaver was trapped in the Tay catchment in Scotland. There, beavers have been in the wild for some time and as a result, where there are conflicts with farmers, a licence can be obtained to cull them.
This beaver was rescued from this fate and will now live a very happy life in our 3.5 re-wilding enclosure, which covers 600m of river in a wooded valley.
The council works with partners including leading beaver experts at Devon Wildlife Trust, re-wilding specialist Dereck Gow and Roisin Campbell–Palmer, the UK’s top beaver ecologist, to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
Isn’t there a lot of construction work going on nearby?
The construction phase of the Forder Valley Link road is a possibly risk, but the council has come to the conclusion that they would cope with it ok, particularly as they are a nocturnal animal and most of the activity would be during the day, so it wouldn’t impact on their natural behaviour too much.
A beaver lodge is an amazingly well insulated structure, and so the noise shouldn't penetrate it too much.
The enclosure is also large, so there’s plenty of scope for them to move upstream and further away from the noise, if they feel threatened.
You can find out more about Poole Farm and the surrounding Derriford Community Park project on the website here.