Beavers celebrate one year anniversary of being in Worcestershire enclosure
The beavers returned to the Wyre Forest last April
Last updated 10th Apr 2025
A family of beavers that were released into an enclosure in Worcestershire last year are celebrating one year in their new home.
Beavers were reintroduced into the Wyre Forest last April as part of Forestry England's commitment to bring the species back to the nation’s forests.
Forestry England teamed up with Natural England and experts at the Beaver Trust to bring two adults and four kits from Scotland into a big, five-hectare enclosure in the heart of the forest.
Richard Boles from Forestry England says it's been exciting seeing the work the beavers carried out and they’ve been really busy.
He said: "We released them into the middle of the area where we ended up putting some feed stations there, for the first few months they seemed happy, but last autumn they've moved down and created a new lodge and dam.
"Over the last few months we've had heavy rainfall, there was a little dam here but with the amount of water that came through we've got a dam that was about four metres which now stretches 30 metres across.
"What they've really done is created a nice little pool that's visible from the forest road, so lots of the pubic when they're coming through instead of just being told there's beavers, they can see what they have done."
Exciting news
The team of six could also potentially see an increase in numbers in the near future too.
Breeding usually takes place between December and April according to the Wildlife Trust, meaning more could be on their way.
"We're really hoping that mum is carrying, or will be carrying very soon," said Stewart Carter from Forestry England.
"At that point, later in the summer we're hoping to see some little swimmers in the water, just adding to the family group.
"We can't wait."
Reintroduction to the wild
In February the government announced it would allow the re-introduction of beavers into the wild after centuries of absence.
It said the return of beavers would be "carefully managed to avoid impacts on farming, food production and infrastructure."
Nature Minister Mary Creagh said at the time: “Beavers are cherished creatures who bring so many benefits for people and our precious natural environment.
"They create wetlands which are havens for wildlife, reduce flood risk and improve the water quality of our rivers.
“Reintroducing beavers to the wild is a critical milestone for this government’s plan to protect and restore our natural world.”
The government added that new wild release projects would need to have a project plan in place covering a 10-year period to support the introduction of beavers into a landscape before Natural England would consider granting a licence.
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