After 400 years of extinction in the UK, Northamptonshire's new beavers have had babies
Eight Eurasian beavers were introduced to the county in February
Beavers that were introduced to Northamptonshire earlier this year have had babies, after 400 years of the animal being absent from the county.
The Wildlife Trust BCN (Beds, Cambs and Northants) released eight adult Eurasian beavers into the Nene Wetlands nature reserve in February.
And the matriarch, named Boudica after the warrior queen, has just had more kits - another name for baby beavers.
Wildlife Trust conservation officer Ben Casey told BBC News this was a "real landmark moment for nature restoration in the county".
Eurasian beavers mate for life, and Boudica had already had six kits with her life partner Alan - named after comedian Alan Carr, who grew up in Northampton.
But in the past few weeks, reserve officers noticed Boudica was lactating, and spending a lot of time in a lodge she'd built. Staff only had proof Boudica had had new kits when they saw them on cameras, because she was so protective of her young.
The Eurasian beaver is Europe's largest rodent. But it was hunted to extinction in the UK around the sixteenth century for its fur and for castoreum, a substance historically used in perfumes, medicines and even as vanilla flavouring.
Since the first official reintroduction in Kent in 2002, the beaver has slowly returned to Britain's waterways, and is now declared a native, protected species.
There are now wild beaver populations across England and Scotland, with the Welsh government looking to reintroduce the species too.