Some exciting news to share this month is that two more beaver kits were born at the Dorset Beaver Project site this year.
In 2021, their parents were released into an enclosed Dorset site, having been relocated from Scotland under licence from NatureScot. Since then, this dynamic duo has been creating a multitude of leaky dams across the site as well as raising the next generation. Two became five with the arrival of three kits in 2022, the first to be born in Dorset in 400 years.
Beavers, which were once native to Dorset, are social animals that live in small family groups, typically consisting of a dominant breeding pair and two generations of young, so we were thrilled to discover that a second generation of beaver kits were born earlier this year. There are now seven beavers at this secret Dorset location - two adults and five kits – a positive sign that this family is thriving.
It took some time to confirm the total number of kits – they can be elusive and tend to hide away during the day – but we are now very happy to share the news of these two new additions with wildlife enthusiasts. Beavers are known as nature’s engineers and their activities, including wetland creation by building dams and creating new channels, have the potential to increase biodiversity, filter out pollution and slow water flow during storm events.
Once a mainstay of British rivers, beavers became extinct here in the 16th century due to hunting, but in recent years they have been introduced at a growing number of sites in the UK.
The project is one of many taking place across the country as wildlife trusts aim to revive the falling beave population across the UK. back in 2015, the Devon Wildlife Trust announced the birth of kits born to the first wild colony of beavers in England.
And earlier in 2023, a family of four beavers were released onto the National Trust's Wallington Estate in Northumberland.
To find out more and adopt a beaver, for yourself or as a gift, visit dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/shop.
