After around five hundred years, beavers have returned to Britain. Some people find it a wonderful thing, while others are less positive.
Beavers have been found in the River Otter in Somerset. Many hundred years ago, there used to be plenty of “little builders” in our rivers, but environmental change drove them out. The National Trust services are getting quite exited about the beavers’ return. It gives their scientists a chance to study these unusual rodents.
Others are less happy about the brown animals. The beavers’ activities in rivers and dams could have a devastating effect on farmers. Because they might carry disease or they might create floods by building dams. It will take some time to figure out how to deal with the returnees, and Britain is going to do a five year trial to see if they can stay living in the wild or weather they have to be kept in captivity.
By Hamish