Beavers are back in Northamptonshire after 400 years
Female Boudica, male Alan Carr - named after the local celebrity - and six young beaver kits where rehomed this week, after flooding last year delayed their release
After 400 years beavers are back in Northamptonshire, thanks to a four year long project from the Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants.
The project has seen a family of eight rehomed from Scotland this week (February 13th) to a 17 hectare enclosure, at Nene Wetlands Reserve.
They are now exploring their new home at Delta Pit lake next door to the popular Rushden Lakes shopping centre.
The family were translocated and released by experts at Beaver Trust following their health screening at a zoo in Scotland. Their release had been planned early but was delayed due to flooding in the Nene Valley.
The family matriarch is missing a leg which is believed to have been lost in a fight. But it has not stopped her raising a family and her fighting spirit has led Beaver Trust staff to name her Boudica. The male adult of the family has been named Alan by Wildlife Trust staff in honour of comedian Alan Carr who grew up in Northamptonshire.
The youngsters will be named by local residents and supporters in the coming weeks.
Matt Johnson, Wildlife Trust Conservation Manager, said: “It was certainly a special moment for all our team and all the people who have supported us along the way. Beavers were last seen in Northamptonshire in the 16th Century and this is the first step of their return to our countryside.
“I can’t wait to see how they will respond to their new home, but also how the environment will respond to them. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, they will gnaw trees and plants and help transform the site into a more diverse habitat where other species can thrive.
“We aren’t the first to release beavers in the UK, but this project is taking a different approach to others by releasing them in a much more publicly accessible site. Just around the corner from Delta Pit is a busy shopping centre with millions of visitors a year as well as homes and businesses nearby. We hope we can inspire local communities and visitors with the story of nature’s recovery and build more support for conservation.”
The project has been supported by Anglian Water through its Get River Positive fund.