38 BBC WildlifeMark Elliott: Devon Wildlife Trust
“The beaver is the first extinct native
mammal to be brought back into the wild
in England,” says Peter Burgess, director
of conservation at Devon Wildlife Trust.
“Its future is hanging in the balance – it’s
the most exciting conservation project I’ve
been involved with.”Following in their footsteps
With the trial now complete, Defra has
decided to give the beavers the permanent
right to remain in their Devon river home.
But what have Mark and his colleagues
learned? And how did they do it?
As the afternoon wears on, I start to
find out. As a zoologist, the prospect of
large mammals not only returning to, but
transforming my local river, is beyond
thrilling. We veer off the main path,
ducking our heads below the saplings
guarding an offshoot of the mother river.
Prints are clearly visible in the loamy
sand. “The back feet are much bigger
than the front”, says Mark. “People often
mistake one set of beaver prints for two
separate animals.”
These prints are a hopeful sign for the
River Otter trial. Following the success of a
release in Knapdale, Scotland, the Scottish
Government reclassified beavers as a native
species and granted them legal protection
in 2019. “But this is the first and only
licensed release of beavers into the wild inThereisnodoubt
that beavers are a
cost-e ective ally
in Britain’s response
to ooding.
Above: a mother and
her kits nibble away
at a willow sapling.
Below, right: a beaver
dam – constructed
from cut, gnawed logs
and umbel stems – on
the River Otter. Below,
far right: ecologistMark Elliott, from
the Devon Wildlife
Trust, inspects a
beaver dam inside a
fenced enclosure near
Okehampton. A single
pair of beavers has
built a series of 13
dams here.beaver ‘territories’, each of which is home
to three or four individuals. In this year
of global uncertainty, and during a time
of unprecedented species loss across the
planet, this remarkable conservation story in
a quiet corner of Devon is also one of hope.
Following the surprise discovery of a
group of wild beavers living on the Otter in
2013 – their origins uncertain – the species
found itself catapulted into the epicentre
of conservation chatter. After a passionate
plea from East Devon communities to
Defra, imploring that the beavers be
allowed to stay, Devon Wildlife Trust was
granted a license in 2015 to conduct a
lengthy investigation: exactly what impact
do beavers have on the local wildlife,
economy and community?
After all, beavers are renowned for the
benefits they can bring. Dam building
retains soil nutrients, reducing peak water
flow to slow the effects of flooding. Their
industrious behaviour improves water
quality, creating countless microhabitats
for many species of plant and animal – all
making for a more biodiverse landscape
than before.
And thus the River Otter Beaver Trial
was born. Devon Wildlife Trust, partnering
with landowner Clinton Devon Estates and
the University of Exeter, had five years to
prove that beavers deserved their place in
our wetlands across the country.