Enfield: First baby beaver born in London in 400 years

A baby beaver was spotted in London for the first time in a very long time this summer.

It is thought to be the first baby beaver born in London for hundreds of years.

Enfield council began London's beaver reintroduction programme in 2022 to bring beavers back to the capital after 400 years.

The initiative is part of a wider rewilding and natural flood management project.

Capel Manor College, with advice from the Beaver Trust, will capture the young beaver to give it a thorough health check with an experienced exotic-animal vet and to confirm its sex, which at this stage remains undetermined.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in England but have been reintroduced recently to some areas across the country.

Enfield council's cabinet member for the environment, Rick Jewell, said: "The beavers' hard work creating a natural wetland ecosystem will contribute to excellent flood defences, protecting the local area and hundreds of homes from flooding downstream to the south-east of the borough, while encouraging biodiversity."

Capel Manor College's animal collections manager, Meg Wilson, said: "We are thrilled [about] this new arrival. We have seen the developments the beavers are [involved in] and the improvements they have made to the wetland area. We are now focusing our efforts on collecting data, which we hope will provide further evidence about the positive effects the beavers are having on the environment."

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