The first baby beavers to be born in the wild for about 400 years have been spotted in Scotland, it has been announced.
Last May the trial reintroduction of beavers began with the babies, known as kits, thought to have been born about eight weeks ago.
About the size of a large guinea pig, beaver kits weigh about one pound at birth and are born with a full coat of fur, their eyes open and the ability to swim.
Older kits within the family may help care for and defend the younger ones but when they reach about two years old, they will leave the group in search of their own territory.
The Scottish Beaver Trial, which reintroduced the animals, aims to provide information which could determine whether or not beavers are reintroduced into the wild across Scotland.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Beaver field officer, Christian Robstad, said: “Seeing the newborn beaver kits was really amazing – this is a huge achievement for the project and for conservation in the UK.
“It’s often difficult to tell if wild beavers are pregnant especially as they are elusive and largely nocturnal animals, but with our adult female beavers at two sites known to be in peak condition, there was a real possibility that kits could follow. Increasingly in the last few weeks, staff and volunteers have seen more evidence that there were young around and tracking activities were stepped up.
“After weeks of patient observation, we were finally rewarded with not just one kit being spotted but a second kit from a different family group as well. The first emerged as part of a ‘family outing’ with its parents and older sister close by to offer additional protection.
“It kept close to the edge of the loch and called out to its family for reassurance while it began to learn to forage for food,” he said.
Northumberland’s three osprey chicks have taken to the air for the very first time.
The young birds, named Aqua, Splash and Spray, and only the second osprey family raised in North East England since records began 200 years ago, have all successfully flown in Kielder Water and the forest park.
Over the past week
[...click on headline to read full story]
The Coalition Government’s White Paper on the Natural Environment provides a real opportunity to lay the foundations of nature conservation for the 21st century, according to The Wildlife Trusts.
The conservation organisation’s comments come ahead of a public consultation and set out its recovery plans for the UK’s wildlife and fragmented habitats on land
[...click on headline to read full story]
Most of us can picture a hedgehog, blue tit or grasshopper, but what does one sound like?
Members of the Wildlife Watch, the Wildlife Trusts’ network of groups for children, are now able to find out thanks to some new state of the art
[...click on headline to read full story]
Northumberland National Park and The Linhope Estate will restore large tracts of the Cheviot Hills to upland heath An exciting new conservation project is about to get underway in Northumberland National Park. The 14,000 acre Linhope Estate, which includes a substantial part of the Cheviot Hills and much
[...click on headline to read full story]
Planting trees along stream banks could play an important part in protecting sensitive fish such as salmon and trout from rising temperatures as the climate warms, a new study has found. Salmon and trout are among the most temperature-sensitive of Britain’s native cold-water species, typically preferring water temperatures
[...click on headline to read full story]
Three osprey chicks are ready to make more natural history in Northumberland – and now youngsters are being invited to suggest names for each of them.
The record breaking birds in Kielder Water & Forest Park are the second brood to hatch in the north east after their siblings successfully fledged year
[...click on headline to read full story]
It might not look much but this little fella is as rare as a good start for England in the World Cup. As the eyes of the world focused on the first football fixture of the tournament, keen-eyed conservationists are already celebrating a special goal for England – the first sighting of a very rare fungus
[...click on headline to read full story]
The Forestry Commission is backing a root and branch survey to assess the condition of the Tees Valley’s precious ancient woodlands. A grant of £4,000 has been made to the Tees Valley Biodiversity Partnership to undertake the task, which will take 18 months to complete and cover an area from Hartlepool and Redcar and
[...click on headline to read full story]
Stunning new footage of Northumberland’s record breaking ospreys has been released by the Kielder Partnership. The adult osprey’s have been re-united in 155,000 acre Kielder Water & Forest Park after making their separate ways back from sub-Saharan Africa.
Last year the couple entered the record books by raising the first osprey chicks born in the North East of England for at least 200 years.
Now one of the two cameras trained on the nest – or
[...click on headline to read full story]
