April 2024
Monitoring and managing the new arrivals
Since the discovery of beavers at Little Sea in January, we have been working to implement monitoring protocols and to incorporate these animals into our long-term plans.
Monitoring: Our first priority was to find out more about the beavers that had appeared and ensure their well-being. As they are nocturnal, we have used trail cameras and thermal imagery to establish that there is likely to be two beavers. By looking at the evidence of their feeding activity, we have been able to roughly map out their territory.
Management: Beavers are a native species so there is no requirement for us to remove them from Little Sea, and it is also against the law to deliberately injure, kill, capture or disturb beavers. We are liaising with partner organisations and stakeholders on the management of the site now beavers are present. We will also be making local residents and walkers aware of the situation.
Future beaver releases: We are still keen to gain a licence for an unenclosed or ‘wild’ release of beavers at Little Sea as we had originally planned to release three pairs to ensure a viable breeding population. We continue to work with Natural England and Defra on a licence application for a wild release.