Five beavers were introduced to Bowyers Wood, a 250-acre rewilding site near Uckfield in East Sussex, as part of a licensed conservation release delivered in partnership with the Beaver Trust and the Green Britain Foundation, under a Natural England licence.
The rewilding project was led by mobile network Ecotalk with the Green Britain Foundation.
One of the beavers released swimming in Bowyer Wood (Image: Ecotalk)
The animals were relocated from Scotland and have settled into a 1km enclosure at the reserve.
Dale Vince OBE, founder of Ecotalk, said: “It’s been three weeks now since Ecotalk introduced the rescue Beavers to our reserve at Bowyers wood – they’ve settled in brilliantly. The family of five have started to build dams, which is what Beavers are famous for – and it’s already changed the water levels and the habitat. While they’re still finding their feet, we’re supplementing their diet with fruit and veg from our friends at Riverford.”
The last two members of the group, a father and son, joined the colony after completing quarantine.
The beaver family groomed each other when they got into the water (Image: Ecotalk)
The release was carried out under a Natural England licence and includes long-term monitoring to protect both the beavers and the surrounding environment.
To the BBC, Grace Garland, conservation officer and beaver lead at the Green Britain Foundation, said the impact of the beavers has been “incredible” in just a short time.
Ms Garland said: “When they back up the water, that’s creating breeding grounds for fish behind the dams…[and] taking out the trees is allowing more flora and fauna to come up for nesting birds.”
Chris Packham, naturalist, broadcaster and chief ecologist at Ecotalk, was present for the beavers’ arrival.
Mr Packham said: “I just can’t remember when I was last so excited about meeting a rodent.
“Big, fantastic rodents.
“And it didn’t disappoint.
“The release went brilliantly – top work and thanks to the Beaver Trust and all the Ecotalk staff and volunteers.
“Rather than sloping off down the stream they stayed and gave us a fantastic daytime show — grooming, interacting and being so cute!”